THE  COST  OF 
SOMETHING  FOR  NOTHING 


jU^_  f.   ^2..^^^^^<_ 


I 


UBRAKf 
OF  THE 


THE 

COST  OF  SOMETHING 

FOR  NOTHING 


By 

John  P.  Altgeld 

Ex-Governor  of  Illinois 

Author  of 
"Oratory"  and  "live  Questions" 


Chicago 

xrae  rlammersinark  Publisnmg  Co. 
MCMIV 


^t'l 


Copyright  June,  1904 

by 

The  Hammersmark  Publishing  Company 

Chicago,  HI. 


>4e 


From  the  Press  of  The  Campbell  Company 
Chicago 


c 


NOTE 

This  little  volume  was  written  just  before  Governor 
Altgeld's  death,  and  is  now  published  for  the  first  time. 

It  was  given  to  me  for  examination  by  Mrs.  Altgeld, 
and  on  reading  it  I  was  convinced  that  it  should  be 
published  just  as  it  was  left  by  him. 

Few  men  in  this  generation  have  been  more  per- 
sistently misunderstood  than  Governor  Altgeld.  This 
came  from  his  fearless  and  relentless  attacks  upon 
injustice  and  wrong  in  places  of  influence  and  power. 
Since  his  death  much  of  the  personal  bitterness  has 
passed  away,  and  an  ever-growing  number  of  his 
fellow-men  are  coming  to  recognize  him  as  one  of  the 
most  sincere  and  devoted  friends  of  humanity  that 
this  country  has  produced. 

Governor  Altgeld  devoted  his  life  to  the  cause  of 
justice  and  died  while  defending  the  weak  against  the 
oppressors.  This  little  volume  reaching  the  public  a 
year  after  this  great  man's  death,  cannot  fail  to  interest 
and  encourage  all  men  and  women  who  are  hoping 
and  wishing  for  justice  on  the  earth. 

At  this  time,  when  everyone  is  intent  on  getting 

something  for  nothing,  these  words  of  a  statesman 

and  a  philosopher  should  not  pass  unheeded.     Every 

thoughtful  person  who  reads  this  book  must  realize 

that  nothing  can  be  had  without  cost,  and  that  the 

accounts  of  the  universe  are  adjusted  and  balanced  so 

that  in  some  way  everyone  must,  sooner  or  later,  pay 

for  what  he  gets. 

CLARENCE  S.  DARROW. 


1 924i)7 


PREFACE 

This  book  does  not  pretend  to  deal  with  re- 
Hgion.  Its  contents  are  devoted  entirely  to 
conditions  in  this  world. 

The  author  does  not  wish  to  appear  in  the 
light  of  a  critic  or  scold.  He  emphatically  dis- 
claims being  better  than  his  fellows.  But,  be- 
lieving that  much  wrong-doing  has  its  begin- 
ning in  thoughtlessness  and  inexperience, 
these  pages  have  been  written  with  the  hope 
that,  by  calling  attention  to  certain  inexorable 
laws,  the  thoughtless  may  be  led  to  think, 
and  the  inexperienced  may  profit  by  the  ex- 
perience of  those  who  have  had  more  experi- 
ence than  profit. 


TABLE     OF    CONTENTS 


Reactionary  Effect  of  Human  Conduct      .        .  13 

Crime  Regions 21 

The  Murderer  and  Marauder       ....  23 

The  Swindler  and  the  Sneak  Thief    ...  25 

Lying  and  Trickery 27 

Railway  Magnates 29 

Local  Monopolies 33 

Certain  Great  Americans 37 

Standard  Oil  Company 43 

The  Liquor  Traffic 45 

Newspapers 49 

Manufacturers 55 

Wages 59 

Bankers 61 

Lawyers 65 

Do  Judges  Stagnate 73 

Professional  Militarism 75 

Fighting  for  Liberty  and  Country        ...  79 

West  Point 83 

Currents  of  Destiny 93 

"A  Good  Fellow" 99 

9 


Table    of    Contents    Continued 

Politics 103 

Government 107 

Wrong  Done  to  Women log 

Prayer 113 

Gratification 117 

Ministers  of  the  Gospel 119 

Parasites 125 

Exploitation 127 

The  Potency  of  Ideas 129 

Conclusion       ..«.•...  131 


10 


THE 

COST  OF  SOMETHING 

FOR  NOTHING 


REACTIONARY  EFFECT  OF 
HUMAN  CONDUCT 


Slowly,  and  at  fearful  cost,  mankind  is 
learning  that  the  taking  of  something  for 
nothing  is  suicidal,  and  that  the  commandment, 
"Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  is  a  law  of 
self-preservation. 

The  Scriptural  injunction,  "Do  unto  others 
as  you  would  have  them  do  unto  you,"  if  prac- 
ticed, would  create  a  condition  of  existence  which 
no  man  should  disregard  on  his  own  account. 

We  will  not  discuss  a  hereafter,  or  future 
rewards  or  punishments.  We  will  confine  our 
comments  to  life  as  it  is  found  in  this  world. 

After  all  that  humanity  has  seen  and  has 
suffered,  through  we  know  not  how  many 
centuries,  man  does  not  yet  fully  understand 
the  importance  of  the  subjective  or  reaction- 
ary effect  of  human  conduct,  and  yet  this  reac- 
tionary effect  destroys  men,  dissolves  fortunes, 
and  rots  down  families. 

13 


"The   Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

For  centuries  men  have  read  the  Scriptural 
declaration  that  *'God  will  visit  the  iniquity 
of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  even  unto 
the  third  and  fourth  generation,"  without 
making  a  personal  application  of  it.  To  each 
reader  it  has  seemed  something  far  away — a 
*  warning  for  others  to  heed.  But  if  we  stop 
to  look  around  us,  we  can  see  men  decaying, 
mentally,  morally,  and  physically.  We  see 
fortunes  disappear  and  children  going  to  pre- 
mature graves,  all  because  of  the  sins  of  the 
father  reacting  upon  himself  and  his  children. 

Too  little  importance  is  attached  to  the  effect 
of  an  act  upon  the  person  acting.  Few  people 
stop  to  consider  the  fact  that  a  man  cannot 
indulge  in  a  mean  trick,  be  it  ever  so  small, 
without  lowering  his  moral  status. 

The  writer  recently  heard  a  young  man 
laughingly  tell  of  his  outwitting  a  car  con- 
ductor, and  succeeding  in  riding  into  the  city 
without  paying  the  usual  fare.     He  told  the 

14 


'The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

story  in  great  glee,  thinking  it,  no  doubt,  an 
evidence  of  his  astuteness  and  cleverness.  This 
seems  a  trivial  thing,  and  yet  that  little  dis- 
honest trick  may  be  the  beginning  of  that 
young  man's  ruin.  He  is  cultivating  a  desire 
to  get  something  for  nothing. 

After  decades  of  groping,  man  is  learning 
to  understand  the  laws  governing  the  human 
body;  and  he  who  deliberately  violates  them 
is  termed  a  fool.  Man  has  learned  that  as  a 
consequence  of  a  violation  of  these  laws  a 
cellular  change  takes  place  in  that  part  of 
the  body  affected,  and  a  process  of  dissolution 
sets  in,  which,  if  not  arrested,  causes  death. 

It  is  not  a  case  of  applied  punishment  from 
without.  An  offended  Deity  will  not  at  some 
time  in  the  future  inflict  a  punishment.  It  is 
the  process  of  dissolution  from  within  that  is 
felt.  In  some  cases,  where  proper  remedies 
are  administered,  nature  will  renew  the  affected 
parts;   others  are  incapable  of  being  restored. 

15 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

The  body  of  anyone  thus  afflicted  is  defective. 
It  is  diseased,  and  the  disease  may  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  offspring, — sometimes  through 
several  generations.  When  the  physical  or- 
ganization is  normal  and  radiant  with  health, 
there  is  happiness  and  pleasure  in  living;  but 
if  the  laws  of  health  have  been  violated,  the 
defective  and  suffering  organization  wears 
away  in  a  slow  death. 

Vaguely,  and  with  imperfect  vision  and  halt- 
ing step,  civilized  mankind  is  beginning  to  un- 
derstand that  man  has  a  moral  organization, 
delicate  and  sensitive,  and  governed  by  eternal 
laws,  just  as  is  the  case  with  the  physical  or- 
ganization. If  any  of  these  laws  are  violated, 
a  change  takes  place  in  the  individual  affected ; 
a  process  of  dissolution  follows,  and  the  suffer- 
ing that  ensues  is  not  a  punishment  inflicted 
by  a  God,  but  the  natural  pain  of  a  diseased 
and  dying  soul. 

In  some  cases  a  reformation  takes  place ;  the 

16 


^be    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

diseased  part  of  the  soul  is  cured,  and  the 
patient  recovers  his  normal  condition.  In 
other  cases  there  is  no  cure,  no  re-growth,  but 
there  is  permanent  deformity.  Continued  or 
repeated  violations  in  time  entirely  destroy  the 
moral  nature  and  leave  the  individual  incapable 
of  pure  and  lofty  sentiment, — capable  only  of 
enjoying  pleasures  that  appeal  to  a  depraved 
mind. 

When  the  moral  organization  is  normal  and 
consequently  healthy,  there  is  moral  felicity, 
peace  and  joy,  and  every  duty  in  life  is  a 
pleasure. 

The  physical  and  moral  organizations  merge 
into  and  influence  each  other  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent;  injury  to  the  physical  affects  the 
moral,  and  vice  versa.  The  secrets  of  the 
heart  leave  their  impress  upon  the  body,  and, 
as  a  rule,  crimes  write  their  history  upon  the 
faces  of  the  perpetrators,  and  the  mean  and 
cringing  form  too  plainly  pictures  the  craven 

17 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

soul  within;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
upright  carriage,  the  frank,  open  countenance, 
and  eyes  that  show  no  guile,  proclaim  their 
owner's  probity. 

There  are  exceptions  to  this  rule,  as  there 
are  to  all  rules;  but  he  who  can  read  human 
nature  correctly  will  declare  them  few. 

It  is  true  that  the  evil  that  men  think  and 
do  may  mar  their  countenance  and  debase  them 
morally;  and  the  consequence  of  doing  vio- 
lence to  the  moral  nature  is  not  limited  to  the 
thinker  and  the  doer,  but  puts  a  blight  upon 
his  progeny,  so  that  innocent  children  have 
to  pay  the  penalty  for  the  evil  thoughts  and 
deeds  of  their  parents. 

There  are  poisons  which,  when  they  first 
enter  the  system,  act  as  a  stimulant.  They 
make  the  blood  circulate  faster,  and  the  eyes 
brighter,  and  give  the  cheeks  color.  This  is 
the  flush  of  the  poison;  it  soon  subsides,  and 
then  the  process  of  decay,  dissolution  and  death 

18 


'The   Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

sets  in,  and  the  deadly  work  goes  on,  sometimes 
slowly,  sometimes  quickly,  until  the  patient  is 
destroyed. 

So  there  are  moral  poisons  that  first  give 
the  victim  the  flush  of  prosperity;  this  over, 
the  process  of  moral  dissolution  begins. 


19 


i 


CRIME    REGIONS 


In  the  physical  world  there  are  regions 
where  malarial  poisons  prevail.  They  fill  the 
air,  and  while  not  visible  they  are  ever  present. 
In  time,  the  inhabitants  unconsciously  get  these 
poisons  into  their  systems.  Their  vitality  is 
destroyed,  and  they  suffer  from  various  form.s 
of  disease.  In  one  person  the  disease  takes  one 
form,  in  another  it  may  take  a  different  form ; 
while  in  some  cases  the  direct  connection  be- 
tween the  disease  and  the  poisons  of  the 
locality  cannot  be  traced,  yet  the  connection 
exists,  and  suffering  and  slow  disintegration 
is  the  natural  result. 

So  there  are  crime  regions  where  the  moral 
atmosphere  is  charged  with  the  poisons  of 
vice,  greed,  hatred,  and  dissipation.  By  de- 
grees the  people  who  frequent  these  regions 
and  breathe  this  atmosphere  get  these  poisons 
into  their  mental  and  moral  systems;  their 
character  or  moral  force  is  thus  undermined, 

21 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

and  sooner  or  later  they  become  not  simply 
witnesses  of  crime,  but  have  guilt  on  their 
own  hands;  and  whether  or  not  they  escape 
the  penitentiary  and  gallows,  the  usefulness 
of  their  lives  is  destroyed.  They  reap  the 
fruit  of  the  crime  regions.  Their  morals  dis- 
integrate, and  misery  and  annihilation  follow. 


22 


THE  MURDERER  AND 
MARAUDER 


Money  that  is  the  fruit  of  murder  is  a  ter- 
rible heritage.  Although  the  children  might 
be  innocent  of  the  means  by  which  their  father 
came  by  it,  it  would  still  carry  with  it  a  curse 
that  would  blight  their  lives  and  destroy  them, 
unless  there  was  some  powerful  counteracting 
force  at  work  to  save  them.  Why  should 
blood-money  prove  a  curse?  Because  the 
bacilli  of  crime  enter  not  only  the  soul  of  him 
who  commits  it,  but  seem  to  envelop  the  whole 
family,  and  often  pursue  them  for  generations. 

The  highwayman  and  the  burglar  both  get 
something  for  nothing;  and  even  if  they  are 
never  brought  before  a  court  of  justice,  but 
are  permitted  to  retain  the  fruits  of  their 
crimes,  they  will  eventually  go  down  to  de- 
struction. They  may  flourish  for  a  time,  and 
even  live  in  luxury;  but  then  the  descent 
begins.     They  may  live  through  many  years 

23 


The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

of  slowly  increasing  wretchedness,  dragging 
their  families  with  them;  but  the  penalty  of 
their  deeds  must  be  paid.  The  bacteria  of 
moral  leprosy  has  entered  their  souls,  and  they 
pollute  and  destroy  everything  that  draws  life 
from  them.    "The  wages  of  sin  is  death." 


24 


THE   SWINDLER  AND  THE 
SNEAK-THIEF 


The  swindler  who  preys  on  the  simple  and 
confiding  may  be  shrewd  and  successful  in 
getting  other  people's  property  without  giving 
fair  value  for  it,  and  thus  gather  a  fortune. 
He  miay  escape  the  penitentiary,  and  some- 
times lives  in  luxury,  but  the  end  is  inevitable. 
His  own  generation  will  probably  see  him  a 
financial,  a  physical,  and  a  moral  bankrupt. 
Why?  Because  he  has  violated  the  eternal 
law  of  equivalents,  the  law  of  balances,  which 
governs  alike  the  heavenly  bodies  and  the  lives 
of  men.  Under  this  law,  when  more  is  taken 
than  is  given,  destruction  follows. 

The  sneak-thief  may  be  successful  in  his 
early  career,  and  for  a  time  gather  much  plun- 
der; but  he  gets  something  for  nothing,  and 
in  a  few  years  he  may  be  seen  "out  at  the  toes 
and  out  at  the  elbows,"  a  mental,  moral,  and 
physical  wreck.     He  reaches  the  end  quicker 

25 


The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

than  the  murderer  or  the  highwayman,  because 
he  has  less  force  and  less  strength  of  character 
to  begin  with.  Dissolution  comes  early;  the 
microbes  of  wrong-doing  pull  him  to  pieces ; 
he  grows  weaker  with  the  years,  and  his  end 
is  pitiable  indeed. 


26 


LYING  AND   TRICKERY 


The  man  given  to  lying,  to  trickery  and  de- 
ception, dwindles  as  time  passes.  He  seems 
to  be  in  the  process  of  slow  annihilation.  He 
goes  down  not  only  morally,  but  mentally, 
physically,  and  financially.  The  reactionary 
effect  of  his  own  conduct  destroys  him.  The  liar 
is  destroyed  by  his  own  lies,  and  the  trickster  is 
destroyed  by  his  own  tricks, — not  in  the  way  of 
punishment  administered  by  an  offended  God, 
but  as  a  result  of  the  disintegrating  and  de- 
structive influence  of  his  own  conduct. 

In  the  cases  of  the  murderer,  the  highway- 
man, the  swindler,  and  the  sneak-thief,  if  there 
are  no  counteracting  or  life-giving  elements, 
or  no  redeeming  virtues,  we  see  the  operation 
of  Nature's  law.  We  see  how  the  bacilli  of 
injustice  proceed  with  their  work  of  dissolu- 
tion and  destruction.  We  see  here  a  law  that 
is  universal,  a  principle  that  is  eternal, — the 
principle   of    equilibrium,     running    through 

27 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

nature  and  the  affairs  of  men.  In  morals  this 
is  called  justice,  equity.  Getting  something 
for  nothing  is  a  violation  of  this  principle,  and 
sets  in  motion  the  forces  of  dissolution. 

The  above  are  the  extreme  cases.  They 
show  us  the  law,  they  demonstrate  the  prin- 
ciple. However,  in  the  great  bulk  of  human 
affairs  there  are  redeeming  qualities  which, 
while  they  do  not  entirely  arrest  the  operation 
of  this  law,  may  yet  retard  its  progress  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  disastrous  end  is  not  visible 
to  every  mind,  and  therefore  the  truth  of  these 
assertions  will  be  denied  by  many. 

Now,  let  us  trace  the  operation  of  this  law 
in  different  fields,  keeping  in  mind  always  that 
the  basic  principle  is  everywhere  the  same, 
whether  seen  in  large  or  small  matters,  in  the 
affairs  of  an  hour  or  of  a  lifetime.  Taking 
something  for  nothing,  or  wronging  a  fellow- 
being  in  any  other  way,  will  recoil  on  the  actor 
with  deadly  results. 

28 


RAILWAY    MAGNATES 


This  century  has  produced  in  America  a 
class  of  men  called,  in  general  parlance,  rail- 
way magnates.  As  a  rule  they  have  been  men 
of  great  intelligence,  sound  judgment,  and  tre- 
mendous activity;  and  they  have  amassed 
enormous  fortunes.  Their  posterity  should 
have  lived  for  generations ;  but  already  we 
see  many  signs  of  decay.  In  som.e  cases  this 
dissolution  begins  in  the  life  of  the  father, 
and  in  nearly  all  cases  it  completes  its  work 
before  the  end  of  the  second  generation. 

What  is  the  reason?  Many  special  ex- 
planations may  be  made,  but  at  the  bottom  of 
it  all  is  the  reactionary  effect  of  human  con- 
duct.   A  moral  leprosy  pulls  them  to  pieces. 

These  railway  men,  when  they  started  out, 
may  not  have  really  meant  to  do  wrong.  They 
went  with  what  seemed  to  be  the  currents  of 
the  times.  They  considered  it  legitimate  to 
get  all  they  possibly  could  from  the  public, 

29 


"The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

and  give  as  little  as  possible  in  return.  This 
rule  of  conduct  is  enough  to  destroy  any  man ; 
but  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  prevailing  notion 
of  "business."  To  get  and  to  keep,  no  matter 
how,  is  the  mark  of  the  shrewd  business  man. 
Thus  these  men  soon  learned  to  get  something 
for  nothing. 

At  this  point  the  poison  first  entered  their 
lives.  Having  once  succeeded  by  the  easy 
path,  naturally  it  was  tried  again ;  they  were 
drawn  on  farther  and  farther,  until  it  became 
the  beaten  path.  Their  projects  involved  not 
only  unjust  dealing,  extortion,  and  oppression, 
but  in  time  the  bribing  of  legislatures  and  city 
councils,  the  debauching  of  officials,  the  unjust 
control  of  courts,  and  the  defeat  of  justice. 
Gradually  came  lowering  of  standards  and 
sneering  at  morals.  It  was  the  temporary 
success  of  might,  of  cunning,  of  fraud,  and  of 
wrong.  But  the  microbes  of  death  entered  at 
every  pore. 

30 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

These  railway  officials  formed  all  sorts  of 
wheels  within  wheels,  to  rob  their  own  corpora- 
tions by  means  of  favored  freight  companies, 
and  other  private  schemes.  They  entered  all 
sorts  of  combines  and  conspiracies  to  boom 
stocks  dishonestly  and  rob  the  public,  and  to 
depress  stocks  dishonestly,  and  thus  rob  their 
own  stockholders  for  whom  they  were  acting 
as  trustees. 

The  first  flush  of  this  poison  produced  a 
false  prosperity.  These  men  built  great  houses, 
they  owned  fine  yachts  and  fast  horses,  and 
they  lived  in  regal  style.  But  this  fever  period 
soon  subsided,  and  then  the  death-dealing 
work  of  the  poison  began  and  the  slime  of 
injustice  destroyed  them. 

Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  a  moral  and 
happy  life,  the  lives  of  these  men  were  failures. 
Even  in  the  high  tide  of  their  prosperity,  they 
could  not  have  been  truly  happy.  Their  pleas- 
ures became  more  and  more  sensual,  with  a 

31 


^be   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

constant  tendency  toward  the  brute  level. 
Some  of  them,  in  the  beginning  of  their 
careers,  no  doubt  had  a  finer  side  to  their 
natures,  and  were  capable  of  higher  enjoy- 
ments ;  but  gradually  their  natures  changed 
until  they  ceased  to  be  either  loving  or  lovable, 
and  by  degrees  all  that  makes  life  worth  the 
living  was  lost  to  them.  The  reactionary 
effect  of  their  ill  conduct  deadened  all  that  was 
noble  in  their  natures.  The  table  gourmand 
is  coarse  and  vulgar,  and  repulsive  to  refined 
people;  so  the  property  gourmand  becomes 
coarse,  hard,  vulgar,  and  attaches  to  himself 
the  obsequious,  the  flunkies,  and  the  hangers- 
on.  He  cannot  attract  noble  manhood  or 
womanhood. 


LOCAL    MONOPOLIES 


As  our  American  cities  grew,  and  needed 
certain  utilities, — such  as  water,  gas,  street- 
railway  service,  etc., — bright  and  enterprising 
men  came  forward  and  furnished  them.  The 
subject  being  new,  the  people  had  not  yet  dis- 
covered the  fact  that  inasmuch  as  the  happi- 
ness, and  even  the  lives,  of  the  citizens  would 
in  time  depend  on  these  utilities,  they  should 
be  owned  by  the  people  themselves,  and  not  left 
in  the  hands  of  a  few  private  individuals  for 
their  own  gain. 

City  councils  granted  franchises  to  corpora- 
tions; and  these  corporations  were  run  for 
profit,  and  aimed  to  get  as  much  out  of  the 
public  as  possible,  and  to  give  back  as  little 
as  possible. 

Here  the  element  of  getting  something  for 
nothing  entered  into  the  transaction.  The 
poison  attached  to  all  who  participated  in  the 
profits.    Greed  grows  in  proportion  as  it  is  fed. 

83 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

As  time  passed,  these  corporations  tried  to 
get  more  and  more  out  of  the  pubhc.  In  order 
to  get  valuable  concessions,  they  began  to  de- 
bauch public  officials.  They  bribed  legisla- 
tures, they  bought  city  councils,  and  they  sub- 
sidized executive  officers.  By  these  corrupt 
means  they  were  enabled  to  extort  millions  of 
dollars  from  the  public.  It  was  legalized  rob- 
bery. Great  fortunes  were  thus  made  in  a 
short  time. 

But  every  dollar  of  this  ill-gotten  wealth,  for 
which  so  little  was  given  in  return,  was  tainted 
with  the  poison  of  wrong-doing.  The  families 
using  this  wealth  became  inoculated,  and  the 
poison  entered  their  blood  and  destroyed  them. 
The  first  symptom  was  the  flush  of  prosperity. 
There  were  fine  houses,  fine  carriages,  fine 
clothes,  and  social  extravagance.  Then  came 
slow  dissolution,  the  wasting  of  fortune,  scan- 
dal, dissipation,  the  gutter  maybe, — but  at  any 
rate  a  sad  end. 

84 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

Many  of  these  men  possessed  great  ability 
and  strong  character,  and  in  the  beginning  of 
their  career  had  high  ideals  and  noble  traits 
and  aspirations ;  but  they  followed  what  seemed 
to  be  the  easy  path,  the  short  road  to  fortune, 
and  almost  unconsciously  they  slipped  into  the 
valley  of  corruption  and  of  moral  death. 

It  is  true,  too,  that  many  of  these  men  would 
not  stoop  to  hand  out  a  bribe  themselves ;  they 
left  that  to  their  agent.  The  agent  perhaps 
employed  another  agent,  and  the  sub-agent 
was  the  instrument  that  debauched  the  public 
official. 

But  while  the  rich  man  may  thus  escape  the 
penitentiary  and  the  disgrace  of  open  bribery,  he 
cannot  escape  nature's  laws.  His  money  does 
the  bribing,  and  he  pockets  the  fruits  of  the 
bribe,  and  thus  fastens  upon  himself  forever 
the  reactionary  effect  of  his  wrong-doing. 
Stealthily  the  poison  enters  his  soul,  and  infects 
all  who  are  attached  to  him. 

35 


CERTAIN  GREAT  AMERICANS 


America  is  a  continent  with  a  most  fertile 
soil  and  a  salubrious  climate.  It  is  peopled  by 
an  intelligent,  industrious,  and  enterprising 
people, — the  best  fibre  of  all  nations.  The  pro- 
ductions of  this  marvelous  people,  with  the  ad- 
vantage of  modern  invention  and  machinery, 
have  been  almost  without  limit;  and  their 
needs  and  capacity  to  buy  and  enjoy  are  like- 
wise almost  without  limit. 

These  conditions  made,  of  necessity,  great 
centres  of  trade ;  and  certain  men  who  caught 
the  currents  of  this  mighty  trade  soon  waxed 
rich  and  powerful. 

They  did  not  make  the  land,  or  the  climate, 
or  the  people,  or  the  progress;  but  all  these 
things  combined  made  them.  In  consequence 
of  these  conditions,  these  men  were  developed, 
and  became  famous  in  the  commercial,  the  rail- 
way, and  the  industrial  worlds. 

They  were  noted  for  their  intelligence,  good 

37 


'The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

judgment,  industry  and  enterprise.  As  the 
world  goes,  they  were  considered  men  of  char- 
acter. In  a  way,  they  were  liberal,  charitable, 
and  to  some  extent  public-spirited.  We  will 
assume  that  they  had  at  times  humane  and 
noble  impulses.  Let  us  examine  their  methods 
of  gaining  wealth,  and  see  if,  when  viewed 
from  a  high  moral  standpoint,  their  lives  were 
a  success,  and  should  be  emulated  by  the 
young. 

One  of  the  great  industries  in  the  United 
States  is  the  manufacture  of  oleomargarine — a 
substitute  for  butter.  While  the  manufactur- 
ers did  not  sell  it  for  butter,  they  were  opposed 
to  any  legislation  which  would  make  it  impos- 
sible for  small  dealers  to  sell  it  for  butter,  be- 
cause this  would  reduce  the  demand  and  cut 
down  their  profits.  In  order  to  prevent  such 
legislation,  the  combination  of  manufacturers 
bribed  some  members  of  almost  every  legisla- 
ture in  America;  and  when  Congress  under- 

38 


^he   Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

took  to  regulate  the  traffic,  they  influenced 
enough  Congressmen  to  get  the  bill  emascu- 
lated and  made  comparatively  harmless. 

Certain  men  wished  to  control  the  meat 
trade  throughout  the  country,  and  to  accom- 
plish this  they  forced  out  of  business  nearly 
every  small  butcher  who  refused  to  buy  his 
meat  of  them.  In  this  way  they  could  con- 
trol the  price  of  meat  on  the  one  hand,  and  on 
the  other  hand  they — by  acting  in  concert,  as 
they  generally  do — could  control  the  price  of 
cattle.  They  thus  had  the  public  and  the  farm- 
ers at  their  mercy. 

At  the  same  time  they  made  criminal  ar- 
rangements with  the  railroads  to  secure  rebates 
and  illegal  discrimination  in  freight  rates,  by 
which  they  themselves  were  enriched  and  their 
smaller  competitors  were  crushed. 

Many  other  things  of  like  nature  could  be 
pointed  out;  but  we  have  given  enough  to 
show  that  the  aim  of  these  men  was  to  get 

39 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for    Nothing 

something  for  nothing,  by  means  of  oppression 
and  injustice. 

Another  of  these  men  has  the  reputation  of 
being  exact  and  honorable  in  his  business  meth- 
ods. He  would  disdain  to  swindle  a  man  in  a 
simple  commercial  transaction.  But  he  is  a 
stockholder  in  a  large  number  of  corpora- 
tions,— such  as  gas,  street  railway,  electric 
light,  and  telephone  companies.  These  corpo- 
rations have  been  notorious  for  plundering  the 
public  and  corrupting  public  officials.  They 
have  bribed  legislators,  bought  city  aldermen, 
and  subsidized  city  officials.  While  this  man 
did  not  himself  bribe  anybody,  he  was  not 
above  pocketing  part  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
bribery,  and  thus  made  a  fortune  by  dishonest 
means, — a  fortune  for  which  he  had  not  paid 
an  equivalent :   something  for  nothing. 

One  of  these  men  was  at  the  head  of  a  com- 
pany which  has  a  monopoly  of  certain  rail- 
road business,  and  which  maintains  the  exorbi- 

40 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

tant  charges  substantially  in  force  thirty  years 
ago.  Other  railroad  charges  have  been  greatly 
reduced.  In  most  States  the  legislatures  have 
fixed  minimum  rates  by  law.  In  order  to  pre- 
vent similar  action  against  their  road  by  the 
different  legislatures,  this  company  spends 
large  sums  as  corruption  funds  at  almost  every 
State  capital  on  this  continent.  Through 
bribery  of  legislature  and  other  officials,  it  has 
been  able  to  practice  a  criminal  extortion  on 
the  one  hand  and  on  the  other  has  escaped  pay- 
ing its  just  taxes. 

The  fortunes  these  men  have  made  have  cer- 
tain things  in  common — moral  corruption,  and 
the  getting  of  something  for  nothing ;  and  the 
forces  of  disintegration  are  here  also  bringing 
about  their  natural  result. 

If  the  reader  cares  to  make  the  investigation, 
he  will  find  that  many  of  the  very  rich  of  our 
country  are  supported  by  dollars  that  are 
tainted  by  injustice,  and  they  are  slowly  but 

41 


*The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

surely  destroying  the  people  who  have  them. 
They  are  a  heritage  of  death.  Instead  of  envy- 
ing them,  or  trying  to  emulate  them,  the  young 
man  starting  in  life  may  well  thank  God  if  he 
has  no  tainted  dollars  to  blight  his  career. 


42 


STANDARD  OIL  COMPANY 


No  other  industry  in  America  has  amassed 
such  gigantic  wealth  and  wielded  such  power 
for  evil  as  the  Standard  Oil  Company. 

Mr.  Henry  D.  Lloyd,  in  his  masterful  work 
"Wealth  vs.  Commonwealth,"  has  given  a 
startling  exposure  of  the  methods  of  this  com- 
pany. From  trustworthy  evidence  it  appears 
that  this  company  was  born  of  crime.  It  seems 
that  it  grew  out  of  a  criminal  conspiracy  with 
railroad  officials,  not  only  to  discriminate  in 
rates  in  favor  of  this  company,  but  to  rob  other 
operators,  and  give  the  proceeds  to  the  men 
controlling  this  company.  In  this  way  it  was 
enabled  to  crush  out  competition.  Then  there 
followed  a  career  of  crime,  involving  the  pack- 
ing of  juries,  the  corrupting  of  courts,  the  brib- 
ing of  legislatures  and  public  officials,  the 
bribing  of  the  employes  of  competitors,  and  the 
destruction  of  property,  including  at  least  one 
case  of  the  ruining  of  a  competitive  oil-works 


43 


The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

by  the  use  of  dynamite.  By  such  means,  a  few 
men  got  control  of  the  oil  business  of  the  conti- 
nent, and  amassed  millions  that  almost  par- 
alyze the  figures  of  arithmetic  to  compute. 

And  now  the  question  to  be  solved  is,  are 
fortunes  tainted  with  bribery,  extortion,  and 
blood,  desirable  inheritances  ?  Which  should  a 
young  man  starting  in  life  prefer:  to  be  able 
to  stand  erect  in  God's  sunlight,  and  take  his 
chances,  free  from  the  burden  of  tainted  dollars 
and  inherited  wrong-doing,  or  a  fortune  of 
ill-gotten  wealth,  with  the  deformity  of  soul, 
the  destruction  of  noble  manhood,  the  blight  of 
dissipation,  and  the  physical  disintegration 
that  too  often  accompany  such  an  inheritance? 


44 


THE   LIQUOR  TRAFFIC 


In  America,  the  liquor  traffic  has  yielded 
great  profits,  both  in  manufacturing  and  in  re- 
tailing ;  and  men  engaged  in  this  business  show, 
for  a  time,  evidence  of  prosperity.  Some  of  the 
most  palatial  homes  in  this  country  belong  to 
brewers  and  distillers;  their  equipages  are  of 
the  best,  and  their  manner  of  living  is  sump- 
tuous. 

One  generation  of  brewers  and  distillers  in 
America  has  passed  away,  and  we  can  study 
their  lives  and  pass  judgment  on  their  work. 
The  most  impressive  thing  that  strikes  the  ob- 
server of  these  men  is  the  universality  of  their 
moral  ruin. 

Personally,  many  of  the  men  engaged  in 
this  business  are  not  only  men  of  ability, 
shrewdness,  and  enterprise,  but  they  are  men 
of  kindly  impulses  and  inclined  by  nature  to 
be  generous ;  and  some  of  them  possess  a  con- 
siderable culture. 


45 


J'he   Cost   of  Something  for  Nothing 

Why  should  a  bHght  hang  over  them  ?  It  is 
the  moral  taint  in  their  business  that  comes 
home  to  them,  with  its  trail  of  death. 

Why  say  moral  taint  ?  Because  the  effect  of 
the  whole  business,  as  now  conducted,  is  to 
cater  to  the  weaknesses,  to  destroy  the  charac- 
ter and  lower  the  social  status  of  men  and  of 
communities;  and  this  demoralization  and 
ruin  reaches  back  to  the  source  from  which  it 
sprang. 

Vibrations  in  the  atmosphere  move  in  a 
circle  in  all  directions  from  the  point  of  dis- 
turbance, and  all  that  come  within  that  circle 
feel  more  or  less  of  the  shock.  In  the  traffic 
in  liquor,  both  the  hand  that  delivers  and 
the  hand  that  receives  the  liquor  become 
palsied. 

If  liquors  were  made  and  sold  as  drugs  and 
groceries  are  sold,  the  effect  would  be  different. 
If  men  took  them  as  they  take  drugs  and  food, 
a  small  per  cent  would  be  used,  and  the  demor- 

46 


^be  Cost   of  Something  for  Nothing 

alization  following  would  be  comparatively 
small. 

But  the  manufacturers  of  liquors  want  to 
make  money,  and  they  endeavor  to  swell  their 
sales.  For  this  purpose  they  encourage  the 
opening  of  saloons. 

These  saloons  become  lounging-places, 
where  characters  and  habits  of  industry  are 
destroyed,  where  habits  of  drinking  and  ca- 
rousing are  formed  that  pull  down  not  only  the 
individual  but  his  family;  and  every  time  the 
drunkard  and  his  family  sink  a  notch  lower, 
the  moral  effect  tends  to  blight  the  family  of 
the  saloon-keeper,  the  brewer,  and  the  distiller, 
who  created  the  conditions  from  which  this 
ruin  proceeds.  It  is  the  reactionary  effect  of 
human  conduct.  The  microbe  of  moral  degra- 
dation works  backward  as  well  as  forward. 


47 


NEWSPAPERS 


A  century  ago,  the  publishing  of  a  newspaper 
tended  to  develop  great  men.  A  number  of 
men  famous  in  the  history  of  our  country  be- 
gan life  as  newspaper  men. 

We  refer  not  only  to  Greeley,  to  Bennett, 
and  that  large  list  of  men  who  published  news- 
papers until  they  died,  and  who  wielded  a  tre- 
mendous influence  in  shaping  the  thought,  the 
sentiment,  and  the  destiny  of  this  country,  but 
we  refer  also  to  that  galaxy  of  men  who  began 
by  publishing  newspapers  and  afterwards  be- 
came distinguished  as  orators  and  statesmen. 

As  originally  conducted,  there  was  some- 
thing about  newspaper  work  that  tended  to 
develop  strength  of  character  as  well  as 
strength  of  intellect.  The  newspaper  man  not 
only  kept  himself  informed  as  to  current 
events,  in  the  discussion  of  which  his  mind  re- 
ceived a  constant  drill,  but  he  felt  morally 
responsible  to  the  public  for  what  was  pub- 

49 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

lished  in  his  paper.  The  estabhshment  being 
small,  everybody  knew  who  was  the  author  of 
every  article  published.  A  consciousness  of 
this  fact  developed  strength.  If  a  newspaper 
man  attacked  private  character,  he  generally 
had  to  meet  his  victim  and  look  him  in  the  face, 
knowing  that  he  knew  what  he  had  said  of  him. 
In  time,  such  an  experience  would  make  strong 
characters.  It  developed  men  unacquainted 
with  fear,  men  who  could  grapple  with  any 
problem  or  confront  any  situation. 

But  as  the  newspaper  establishment  was  en- 
larged, the  sense  of  a  personal  responsibility 
ceased  to  exist.  By  degrees  the  paper  became 
a  machine,  a  great  entity  that  had  an  existence, 
a  voice  and  an  influence  separate  and  apart 
from  the  men  who  made  it.  By  degrees  it 
swallowed  the  men  who  fed  it. 

From  that  moment  it  began  to  destroy  char- 
acter.    It  was  the  newspaper  that  talked,  not 
the  man.    Instead  of  developing  strong,  open- 
so 


T^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

faced  men,  it  tended  to  develop  sneaks.  Every- 
thing was  anonymous.  The  writer  of  an  arti- 
cle felt  no  personal  or  moral  responsibility. 
All  the  world  despises  the  writer  of  an  anony- 
mous letter.  No  honorable  man  would  think  of 
writing  one ;  yet,  so  far  as  the  writers  are  con- 
cerned, the  great  newspapers  of  to-day  are 
mostly  a  collection  of  anonymous  letters,  and 
the  writers  are  reduced  to  the  low  level  of 
anonymity. 

In  the  vegetable  kingdom,  nothing  large  or 
wholesome  ever  grows  in  the  dark.  It  takes 
sunlight  to  develop  the  healthy  plant  and  ripen 
the  luscious  fruit.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
human  plant.  The  man  who  lives  in  darkness 
and  covers  up  his  deeds  is  doomed. 

If  we  examine  the  subject,  we  find  that  few 
men  have  grown  great  on  the  large  newspapers 
during  the  last  generation.  Many  men  of  ex- 
cellent ability,  fine  education,  and  noble  aspira- 
tions, have  entered  the  field.    They  become  for 

51 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

a  time  more  acute  and  better  able  to  serve 
their  masters;  but  they  degenerate  in  char- 
acter. 

No  man  can  hide  behind  a  hedge  and  throw 
missiles  at  the  people  traveling  on  life's  high- 
way, without  deteriorating.  He  will  lose  what 
manhood  he  may  have  had  at  the  beginning  of 
his  career.  He  will  partake  more  and  more  of 
the  nature  of  the  reptile  hiding  in  the  grass. 
The  reactionary  effect  of  human  conduct  will 
destroy  him. 

This  tells  the  sad  story  of  a  great  army  of 
bright  men  whose  careers  have  been  spoiled 
or  destroyed  by  anonymous  work  on  great 
newspapers.  In  smaller  cities  there  are  yet  to 
be  found  newspapers  of  the  old-time  character, 
where  the  editors  grow  to  be  strong  men.  This 
is  also  true  of  some  weekly  papers  published  in 
large  cities.  The  editors  and  writers  stand  out 
in  the  sunlight,  and  look  mankind  in  the  face. 
But  the  great  dailies  lay  the  blight  of  their  con- 

62 


"The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

duct  upon  all  who  are  connected  with  them. 

The  newspaper  proprietor  may  wield  power 
for  a  time,  and  be  sought  after  by  cringing 
men  seeking  public  favors ;  but,  with  rare  ex- 
ceptions, the  same  dragon  of  wrong  conduct 
that  swallows  up  the  smaller  men  in  his  employ 
will  destroy  him  also. 

The  man  who  is  wronged  by  an  anonymous 
article  in  a  newspaper  sustains  far  less  injury 
than  the  writer  of  the  article  or  the  proprietor 
of  the  paper.  If  the  victim  will  pursue  the 
even  tenor  of  his  way,  facing  the  stars,  the  foul 
odor  of  the  attack  will  not  cling  to  him,  but  it 
will  settle  back  into  the  garments  of  those  who 
made  it,  and  its  character  will  be  chiseled  upon 
their  faces. 


53 


MANUFACTURERS 


Great  fortunes  have  been  made  in  America 
and  in  England  by  manufacturing.  Advancing 
civilization  served  to  furnish  a  market  for  all 
that  could  be  produced.  Large  establishments 
were  built,  and  they  were  generally  controlled 
by  men  of  ability  and  energy.  These  great 
manufacturing  houses  seemed  to  have  a  simi- 
lar experience;  for  a  time  they  prospered  and 
grew  great,  and  then  a  process  of  decay  would 
set  in. 

Looking  more  closely,  we  see  that  while  they 
seemed  to  be  honest  in  the  conduct  of  their 
business,  the  customs  of  the  times  had  devel- 
oped systems  of  industry  that  were  tainted 
with  injustice  and  oppression.  Children  of 
tender  years  were  employed,  because  they  could 
be  had  cheap;  and  while  they  should  have 
been  in  school,  or  at  play,  they  worked  long 
hours  in  the  poisonous  atmosphere  of  factory 
rooms.    They  grew  into  men  and  women  with 

66 


'The    Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

stunted  minds  and  bodies ;  their  lives  were 
blighted,  and  the  deadly  shadow  of  reactionary- 
effect  settled  down  upon  the  proprietor  and  his 
family. 

In  the  matter  of  wages,  the  manufacturer 
could  fix  his  own  wage  scale,  and,  as  a  rule, 
employes  had  to  accept.  What  could  they  do  ? 
The  location  of  the  factory  had  been  the  cause 
of  their  coming  together  from  different  parts  of 
the  country,  where  the  alluring  promise  of 
steady  work  and  good  wages  had  reached 
them.  Once  there,  they  were  helpless;  for 
they  had  spent  everything  they  had  in  the 
world  to  get  there.  They  had  to  accept  what 
was  offered. 

Naturally,  the  scale  of  wages  was  fixed  so  as 
to  make  as  large  a  profit  as  possible  for  the  pro- 
prietor; and  when  there  was  any  economy  to 
be  practiced,  if  he,  in  competition  in  the  mar- 
ket, had  to  cut  the  price  of  his  goods,  wages 
were  cut,  and  the  employes  were  at  his  mercy. 

56 


^be   Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

As  a  rule,  the  wages  barely  furnished  sub- 
sistence; so  that  after  years  of  toil,  with  their 
vitality,  which  was  their  only  capital,  gone, 
they  were  in  an  impoverished  condition. 

But  in  the  moral  economy  of  the  universe 
the  vibrations  run  in  all  directions  from  the 
point  of  action.  Every  time  there  was  a  cut  in 
wages,  or  an  oppressive  order  given  to  the  em- 
ployes, the  vibration  not  only  lowered  the 
status  of  the  men,  the  women,  and  the  children 
who  toiled,  but  it  poisoned  the  atmosphere  for 
the  proprietor  and  his  family  as  well.  The 
taint  of  injustice  fastened  itself  on  all,  and 
gradually  turned  their  feet  toward  the  path 
that  leads  downward. 

In  all  large  industries,  accidents  happen. 
Laborers  get  crippled,  crushed,  killed.  This 
means  widows,  orphans,  poverty,  and  wretched- 
ness. Justice  requires  that  accidents  should  be 
charged  up  to  the  business,  that  those  who  are 
maimed  should  be  cared  for  by  those  for  whom 

57 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

they  toiled.     But  no, — the  burden  is  generally 
loaded  upon  the  unfortunate. 

The  child,  getting  but  a  pittance  for  its  long 
hours  of  toil,  becomes  weary  and  benumbed, 
and  is  caught  in  a  machine  and  has  its  arm 
crushed.  Does  the  proprietor  pension  it  and 
provide  for  its  future?  No;  he  would  send  it 
home  and  put  another  child  in  its  place.  If  he 
was  a  very  humane  man,  he  would  perhaps  pay 
the  doctor's  bill.  He  would  argue  that  his  em- 
ployes were  free  agents ;  they  came  to  his  mill 
of  their  own  free  will,  and  they  must  take  their 
chances.  He  does  not  think  of  how  they  are 
helping  him  to  build  up  an  enormous  fortune 
without  receiving  a  fair  compensation  in  re- 
turn, and  that  he  is  getting  something  for 
which  no  equivalent  is  given. 


WAGES 


Can  we  accept  the  services  of  another  for 
less  than  they  are  worth  to  us,  other  things  be- 
ing equal  ?  We  are  all  prone  to  employ  the  man 
who  will  do  our  work  for  the  least  monev.  If 
one  man  demands  a  dollar  and  a  half  for  cer- 
tain work,  and  another  man  offers  to  do  it  for  a 
dollar,  we  give  him  the  job.  We  say  wages 
are  fixed  by  supply  and  demand. 

They  are  regulated  by  competition.  But 
competition  is  determined  by  the  necessities  of 
the  competitors.  In  competition,  the  weak  are 
driven  to  the  wall,  and  are  obliged  to  underbid. 
Thus  are  they  forced  to  a  lower  and  lower 
status. 

If  we  take  advantage  of  these  necessities, 
and  pay  them  less  than  their  labor  is  worth  to 
us  because  it  is  in  our  power  to  do  so,  we  are 
helping  to  push  them  down.  We  are  helping 
to  lower  the  status  of  their  children,  and  to  in^ 
crease  the  vice  and  wretchedness  of  the  future. 

69 


*Tbe   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

Can  we  expect  our  children  to  be  happy,  and 
free  from  inherited  bHght,  if  we  give  them  the 
money  we  have  made  from  underpaying  the 
labor  that  helped  us  amass  a  fortune? 

If  we  keep  that  which,  under  the  eternal 
equities,  was  earned  by  another,  the  poison  of 
injustice  will  enter  our  households.  This  law 
of  equivalents  must  be  respected,  or  we  must 
pay  the  penalty. 

The  fact  that  we  could  have  got  an  indefinite 
number  of  other  men  to  do  the  same  work  for 
the  same  money,  does  not  make  a  good  plea  at 
the  bar  of  conscience.  The  equities  are  not 
changed  by  the  fact  that  we  have  many  men 
at  our  mercy. 


60 


BANKERS 


Bankers  are  usually  men  of  superior  intelli- 
gence, and  they  possess  an  industry  and  a 
strength  of  character  that  should  make  their 
posterity  strong  and  prominent  for  centuries. 
But  the  majority  of  the  families  of  great  bank- 
ers have  not  enough  vitality  or  character  to 
make  an  impress  on  the  next  generation. 

Why  is  this  so?  Why  should  not  the  de- 
scendants of  bankers  be  great  men  and  women 
for  generations?  Let  us  examine  their  busi- 
ness methods,  and  see  how  they  make  their  for- 
tunes. A  friend  of  the  bankers  would  say  they 
make  them  by  "severe  business  methods." 
There  certainly  can  be  no  objection  to  exact 
business  methods,  and  the  taking  care  of  money 
is  a  legitimate  business. 

A  banker,  to  be  successful,  must  be  cold  and 
severe,  repressing  all  generous  and  humane 
emotions.  This  severity  shrivels  up  the  finer 
and  nobler  sentiments.     Gradually  the  man's 

61 


The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

character  is  changed,  and  in  time  he  becomes  a 
cold,  shrewd,  fierce  money-getter.  Greed  en- 
ters every  pore  of  his  being,  and  he  ceases  to  be 
anything  but  a  financial  hyena.  To  get  some- 
thing, not  to  he  something,  is  his  motto.  The 
atmosphere  of  his  household  is  such  that  in  it 
no  great  thought  can  take  root,  no  great  soul 
can  grow,  no  great  character  can  be  formed. 

Sometime  ago  the  writer  had  a  conversation 
with  one  of  Chicago's  most  successful  men,  a 
man  of  wide  experience  and  the  soul  of  honor. 
He  was  Scotch  by  birth,  but  he  had  spent  the 
most  of  his  life  in  this  country,  and  he  had  by 
his  own  efforts  accumulated  a  comfortable  for- 
tune. He  had  been  in  the  banking  business, 
but  had  given  it  up.  The  writer  asked  him  why 
he  quit  banking;  was  he  not  making  money? 
"Oh,  yes,"  he  replied,  *T  was  making  money, 
but  it  seemed  to  me  that  to  be  a  successful 
banker  would  in  time  destroy  all  a  man's  finer 
nature,  and  would  make  him  as  hard  as  the 

62 


The    Cost    of  Something  for    Nothing 

money  he  handled ;  and  I  did  not  care  to  trade 
myself  off  for  money." 

To  make  money  fast,  the  banker  must  take 
advantage  of  the  necessities  of  others.  He 
drives  severe  bargains.  He  gets  usurious  in- 
terest. He  secures  excessive  discounts,  and 
sometimes  helps  to  engineer  schemes  by  which 
other  men  are  driven  to  the  wall,  much  to  his 
profit.  When  the  property  of  a  debtor  is 
slaughtered,  he  buys  it.  Wherever  he  puts  his 
hand,  he  draws  blood.  Crops  may  fail  and 
panics  may  destroy  the  value  of  the  debtor's 
.property,  but  the  banker  must  have  his  per 
cent  at  any  cost. 

But,  you  will  say,  this  is  all  legitimate;  the 
law  allows  it,  customs  and  business  methods 
permit  it.  And  so  they  do;  but  that  does  not 
help  the  matter.  Who  made  the  laws,  the  cus- 
toms, and  the  rules  of  business?  In  many 
cases,  perhaps  most,  they  were  made  by  the 
bankers  themselves,  or  at  their  dictation.  They 

63 


l^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

are  always  made  by  the  strong,  never  by  the 
weak  or  unfortunate;  and  the  cold  truth  re- 
mains that  every  time  a  banker  drives  a  sharp 
bargain,  every  time  he  takes  advantage  of 
another's  necessities,  he  gets  something  for 
which  he  has  not  paid  full  value,  and  here  the 
first  seed  of  moral  death  is  sown.  From  the 
moment  he  gets  something  for  nothing,  the 
microbe  of  injustice  enters  his  soul  and  begins 
its  deadly  work. 


64 


LAWYERS 


No  class  of  men  wield  more  influence  in 
American  affairs  than  lawyers.  Their  expe- 
rience gives  them  a  familiarity  with  all 
branches  of  business,  and  a  knowledge  of  all 
classes  of  men.  Their  work  is  of  such  a  nature 
as  to  make  them  alert.  Their  faculties  are  kept 
reasonably  active,  so  that  they  are  more  avail- 
able for  public  or  semi-public  work  than  any 
other  class  of  men ;  hence  they  become  not  only 
the  advisers  who  direct  affairs,  but  the  actual 
leaders  of  movements. 

They  have  almost  monopolized  the  legisla- 
tive and  judicial  branches  of  our  government, 
and  have  been  very  prominent  in  the  executive 
branch.  Even  when  not  seeking  positions  them- 
selves, they  are,  by  reason  of  their  readiness 
and  experience,  employed  by  selfish  interests  to 
manipulate  conventions  and  control  nomina- 
tions. It  is  in  some  sense  true  that  the  American 
Government  has  been  a  lawyer's  government. 

66 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

With  such  a  field  before  him,  it  is  manifest 
that  a  lawyer,  above  all  other  men,  should  be 
a  man  of  character.  The  more  purely  profes- 
sional part  of  his  work  is  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  should  elevate  his  mind  and  develop  all  his 
faculties.  This  work  involves  wide  reading, 
the  possession  of  accurate  knowledge,  and  dis- 
crimination and  reasoning.  It  involves  also 
the  accurate  use  of  language,  spoken  and 
written. 

In  the  nature  of  things,  the  lawyer  should  be 
not  only  learned,  but  he  should  develop  into  a 
man  of  broad  culture.  Having  to  deal  with 
great  principles  of  justice,  he  should  be  above 
the  very  thought  of  trickery  and  mean  things. 
Theoretically,  the  lawyer  is  not  employed  to 
win  cases,  but  to  see  that  the  law  is  properly 
applied  to  his  client's  case.  He  is  an  officer  of 
the  court,  and  is  supposed  to  assist  the  court 
in  the  administration  of  justice. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  profession  that 

r 

66 


T^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

should  develop  a  more  beautiful  and  well- 
rounded  character  than  the  profession  of  the 
law.  Occasionally  we  meet  such  a  man  at  the 
bar,  and  instinctively  we  pay  him  homage.  He 
may  not  win  so  many  cases,  he  may  not  be  em- 
ployed by  great  criminals  or  by  great  corpora- 
tions, and  he  may  not  boast  of  getting  big  fees ; 
but  there  is  something  lofty  and  supreme  in  his 
character,  and  dignified  in  his  demeanor. 

If  we  have  sometimes  been  too  eager  to  win, 
and  have  forgotten  we  were  officers  of  justice^ 
and  have  stooped  to  become  mere  beasts  of 
prey,  how  vulgar  it  all  seems  when  we  come 
into  the  presence  of  such  a  character !  We  feel 
that  our  very  success  is  degrading  and  our  re- 
ward tainted.  Even  though  he  be  poor,  he  is 
far  above  anything  that  money  can  buy. 

It  is  a  sad  comment  on  human  nature,  that 
while  the  profession  of  law  should  produce 
great  characters,  the  harvest  in  that  regard  has 
been  meager. 

67 


The    Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

Even  before  commercialism  degraded  the 
profession,  there  was  a  tendency  to  become 
narrow  and  petty.  This  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  courts  in  their  practice  had  made  the 
law  a  mesh  of  technicalities.  Instead  of  get- 
ting at  the  merits  of  a  controversy  at  once,  and 
deciding  it,  there  was  a  persistent  effort  to  find 
out  how  not  to  do  it.  This  turned  the  eye  of 
the  profession  to  little  things,  so  that  many  men 
have  entered  the  law,  possessing  splendid  abil- 
ity, fine  education,  and  high  aspirations,  who 
after  twenty  years  of  practice  became  mental 
and  moral  mummies.  It  requires  great  strength 
of  character  to  rise  above  the  environment. 

In  so  far  as  the  courts  or  the  lawyers  indulge 
in  quibble  and  refinement,  the  profession  of  the 
law  has  a  belittling  and  a  degrading  tendency. 
In  just  so  far  it  paralyzes  the  intellect  and 
shrivels  the  soul.  No  quibbler  ever  becomes 
great.  He  is  like  a  hen  scratching  in  a  barn- 
yard,— he  never  looks  out  over  the  barn-yard 

68 


'The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

fence.  He  holds  his  eyes  so  close  to  the  ground 
seeking  his  daily  food,  that  he  never  gets  a 
view  of  the  vast  fertile  landscape  just  outside. 

The  advancing  intelligence  of  the  world 
gradually  made  the  practice  of  law  more  rea- 
sonable; and  then  came  a  degrading  commer- 
cialism which  used  the  profession  as  a  con- 
venience. 

Instead  of  viewing  everything  from  the  lofty 
standpoint  of  an  honorable  profession,  there 
was  a  constant  tendency  in  lawyers  to  sink  to 
the  level  of  trained  conveniences,  to  the  level 
of  hired  men,  shrewd  and  able  and  in  the  mar- 
ket, ready  to  take  anybody's  money  and  to  try 
to  win  his  case  for  him,  whether  right  or 
wrong.  And  that  fatal  fallacy  began  to  take 
possession  of  the  legal  mind,  that  a  man  may  do 
things  as  a  lawyer  that  he  could  not  do  as  an 
honorable  citizen.  This  absurd  sophistry  has 
ruined  more  lawyers  than  has  any  other  one 
thing.  Once  inoculated  with  this  idea,  a  lawyer 

69 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

is  lost.  The  effect  is  perceptible  almost  immedi- 
ately. He  sinks  to  the  level  of  a  trickster.  The 
cellular  structure  of  his  brain  changes ;  the  ex- 
pression of  his  eyes  changes;  and  although  a 
temporary  success  may  attend  his  course,  there 
can  be  but  one  ending  to  his  career.  Nothing 
more  true  was  ever  written  than  that  "tricks 
destroy  the  trickster." 

The  writer  has  had  reasonable  opportunities, 
at  the  bar,  the  bench,  and  in  public  life,  to  no- 
tice the  career  of  all  classes  of  lawyers,  and  he 
has  seen  no  exception  to  the  rule  that  tricks 
will  destroy  the  trickster.  After  each  success- 
ful trick  the  man  is  weaker,  and  instead  of 
growing  he  deteriorates.  A  moral,  mental, 
spiritual  and  physical  atrophy  destroys  him. 

A  lawyer  may  get  a  reputation  because  he 
has  won  cases,  even  if  he  won  them  by  ques- 
tionable methods;  and  a  reputation  for  win- 
ning will  bring  him  business,  and  for  a  time  he 
may    flourish.     If    he  is  a    man    of    strong 

70 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

physique  and  mentality,  he  may  seemingly 
escape  paying  the  just  penalty  of  his  acts ;  and 
then  the  whole  burden  of  expiation  falls  upon 
his  children.  And  yet,  mental  suffering  is  not 
often  paraded  before  the  world ;  and  a  lawyer 
who  has  suborned  witnesses  and  packed  juries, 
who  has  bribed  officials  and  falsified  records, 
and  thus  balked  justice,  must  be  hardened  in- 
deed if  he  has  no  pangs  of  conscience,  no  bitter 
regrets  that  he  has  allowed  himself,  because  of 
his  greed,  to  become  one  of  the  worst  enemies 
of  mankind. 

If  the  young  lawyer,  with  a  fair  education 
and  the  determination  to  be  a  man  of  integrity, 
will  but  strive  for  the  best  there  is  in  his  pro- 
fession,  and  above  all  else  be  true  to  all  that  is 
best  in  himself,  he  will,  by  degrees,  get  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  of  his  communityj  and  he 
cannot  fail  tb  become  a  strong  character.  Cor- 
porations  may  not  hire  him,  but  he  will  have 
the  good  opinion  of  his  fellow-men  and  his  own 

71 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

self-respect.  He  may  not  get  rich  in  money, 
but  he  will  be  rich  in  the  things  money  cannot 
buy.  Such  a  man  is  much  more  to  be  envied 
than  the  man  who  amasses  a  fortune  by  ques- 
tionable means. 


12 


DO   JUDGES   STAGNATE? 


The  question  is  frequently  asked :  "Why  does 
a  man  cease  to  grow  after  he  goes  on  the 
bench?" 

As  a  rule,  men  elected  to  the  bench  have  es- 
tablished a  reputation  of  being  men  of  strong 
character  and  growing  intelligence,  and  if  they 
had  remained  off  the  bench  they  would  have 
continued  developing.  But  as  soon  as  a  man  is 
elected  to  the  office  of  judge,  all  growth  seems 
to  cease;  and  after  years  of  experience  on  the 
bench,  he  not  only  has  not  grown  but  he  has 
deteriorated. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  this.  In  the 
first  place,  his  active  life  ceases.  He  literally 
and  figuratively  sits  down.  Growth,  strength 
and  greatness  come  from  contest.  The  judge 
being  relieved  of  contest,  of  life's  fierce 
struggle,  naturally  becomes  phlegmatic,  and 
development  is  impossible.  And  then  he 
ceases  to  create,  to  shape  and  to  originate.     It 

78 


^he    Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

is  his  business  to  discover  and  apply  what 
others  have  said. 

A  large  portion  of  his  thought  is  taken  up 
with  the  consideration  of  little  things — draw- 
ing learned  distinctions  between  tweedle-dee 
and  tweedle-dum.  The  effect  of  this  is  be- 
littling. 

Instead  of  the  independence  which  comes 
from  fighting  life's  battles,  which  develops 
greatness,  the  judge  too  often,  unintentionally 
and  unconsciously,  becomes  merely  the  expres- 
sion of  what  is  for  the  time  the  dominant  in- 
fluence of  the  land.  This  dominant  influence 
is  like  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere;  it 
envelops  him,  and  is  almost  irresistible.  It 
requires  tremendous  strength  of  character  to 
rise  above  it  and  be  guided  solely  by  the 
pole-star  of  justice.  Yet  the  judge  who  gives 
way  to  the  pressure,  and  allows  his  high  office 
to  be  used  for  purposes  of  oppression  and  of 
wrong,  is  a  curse  to  his  country. 

74 


PROFESSIONAL  MILITARISM 


Viewed  from  any  standpoint,  the  business 
of  killing  men  is  a  brutal  and  degrading  pro- 
fession, which  must  brutalize  those  who  engage 
in  it,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  depending 
somewhat  upon  the  character  of  the  man  in 
the  beginning.  Except  where  men  strike  for 
life,  liberty,  or  country,  the  moment  he  reddens 
his  hands  with  the  blood  of  his  fellows,  the 
microbe  of  the  £end  begins  to  circulate  in  his 
veins,  and  a  slow  but  certain  disintegration 
settles  down  upon  him  and  all  connected  with 
him. 

If  he  possessed  great  virtues  and  strength 
of  character  to  start  with,  the  process  of  dis- 
solution may  be  lengthened  to  the  second  gen- 
eration; but  the  end  is  the  same.  There  is 
something  abhorrent  about  the  taking  of  life, 
and  Nature  will  have  her  revenge.  Even  the 
man  who  delights  in  killing  the  lower  animals 
gradually  changes.     He  becomes  coarse,  his 

75 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

finer  and  nobler  feelings  are  blunted,  and 
he  finally  partakes  somewhat  of  the  nature 
of  the  fierce  brutes  whose  conduct  he  imi- 
tates. From  the  standpoint  of  fair  play, 
he  sinks  even  below  the  average  level  of 
the  brute;  because  the  element  of  unfair 
advantage  by  reason  of  firearms,  etc.,  must 
be  considered. 

The  business  of  the  professional  soldier  is 
to  kill,  to  destroy.  He  creates  nothing.  All 
his  thoughts  run  in  the  direction  of  destruc- 
tion. He  is  a  stranger  to  the  elevating, 
strengthening,  and  ennobling  influence  that 
comes  from  creating  something,  from  adding 
to  the  world's  comfort  or  happiness.  In  spirit 
and  aim  he  belongs  to  the  barbaric  ages.  His 
environment  in  itself  is  enough  to  destroy 
even  the  strongest  and  noblest  manhood.  He 
is  isolated  from  both  the  affairs  and  the  society 
of  the  great  body  of  citizens.  He  is  a  stranger 
to  their  aims  and  their  aspirations.     His  as- 

76 


T^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

sociation  with  women  is  generally  confined  to 
the  worst  of  the  sex. 

The  powerful  and  selfish  interests  of  the 
world  use  him  as  a  club  to  beat  the  toiling 
masses  into  subjection  while  they  are  being 
robbed  of  the  fruits  of  their  toil.  He  thus 
becomes  the  unintentional  foe  of  liberty,  free- 
dom, and  justice.  He  is  made  an  instrument 
of  injustice,  and  this  in  itself  is  degrading.  He 
must  obey  orders,  and  therefore  he  is  excusa- 
ble before  the  law;  but  it  does  not  change 
the  nature  of  his  act,  nor  relieve  him  from  the 
reactionary  effect  of  his  conduct.  In  the 
world's  armies,  there  is  everywhere  this  tend- 
ency of  the  professional  soldier  to  degenerate, 
because  of  his  mental,  moral,  and  physical 
environment. 

The  private  soldiers  in  many  cases  are 
treated  like  dogs.  What  is  more  natural  than 
that  they  should  sink  to  the  level  of  dogs  in 
their  conduct?    The  officers  strut  in  fine  uni- 

77 


'^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

forms,  and  form  a  class  by  themselves.  They 
are  exclusive,  and  cultivate  a  spirit  of  snob- 
bery. This  spirit  of  exclusion,  this  "I  am 
better  than  thoii"  attitude,  is  in  itself  belittling. 
No  snob  ever  grew  into  a  great  man. 

Nature  draws  no  distinction  between  officer 
and  private,  and  the  death-dealing  influence 
of  a  wrong  destroys  all  who  come  within  the 
circle  of  vibration  which  every  wrong  sets  in 
motion.  A  fine  uniform  may  conceal  a  scrofu- 
lous body ;  but  no  screen  has  yet  been  devised 
that  will  veil  the  windows  of  a  putrid  soul,  or 
erase  from  the  countenance  the  scars  of  a  dead 
conscience. 


78 


FIGHTING  FOR  LIBERTY 
AND  COUNTRY 


While  professional  militarism  fights  with 
almost  equal  readiness  under  any  flag,  and  is 
to-day  the  principal  prop  and  support  of  estab- 
lished wrong  throughout  the  world,  there  is 
no  nobler  spectacle  than  that  of  the  great  body 
of  citizens  of  a  country  taking  up  arms  in 
defense  of  liberty. 

To  establish  liberty  for  mankind  is  the  high- 
est mission  on  earth. 

It  is  a  most  significant  and  eloquent  fact 
that  wherever  liberty  has  been  established  in 
this  world  it  was  done,  not  by  professional 
soldiers,  but  by  the  common  citizens.  These 
are  the  occasions  that  give  to  the  world  its 
heroes.  Mere  daring  is  often  vulgar,  but 
daring  and  sacrifice  coupled  with  a  mighty 
moral  cause  bring  immortality. 

It  is  sometimes  urged  that  a  country  must 
have  professional  military  men  in  order  to  be 

79 


T^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

prepared  for  emergencies.  But  what  does 
history  teach  us  ? 

The  French  armies  which  overthrew  all 
Europe  were  made  up  mostly  of  citizen  sol- 
diers. The  great  German  armies  which  Na- 
poleon routed  were  of  professional  soldiers, 
and  they  went  down  in  utter  ignominy.  Many 
years  later,  the  French  had  become  professional 
soldiers,  and  the  Germans  raised  an  army  of 
citizens,  and  this  army  proved  invincible,  and 
redeemed  the  fatherland.  King  George's 
troops  were  professional  soldiers.  They  tried 
to  subjugate  our  forefathers,  but  the  citizen 
soldier  and  patriot  was  too  much  for  them. 

The  American  heroes  consisted  of  citizens 
who  triumphed  and  established  our  inde- 
pendence. 

In  the  Civil  War,  the  Union  armies  were 
composed  almost  entirely  of  citizens ;  and  they 
fought  to  a  finish,  and  triumphed  in  one  of 
the  greatest  wars  ever  waged. 

80 


'The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

It  has  been  remarked  of  our  recent  war  in 
Cuba,  that  the  citizen  or  volunteer  soldiers  did 
the  fighting,  and  the  professional  soldiers  did 
the  blundering. 

In  South  Africa,  a  few  thousand  citizen  sol- 
diers almost  held  their  own  against  a  quarter  of 
a  million  professional  soldiers  for  several  years. 
The  fact  is,  that  every  new  war  differs  from 
all  preceding  wars,  and  both  sides  have  to 
learn  how  to  fight.  And  the  intelligent  citizen 
fighting  from  high  motives — fighting  for  home 
and  country — makes  a  much  more  ready  and 
invincible  soldier  than  the  professional,  who 
stands  on  a  lower  plane. 

Instead  of  a  standing  army  being  a  pre- 
server of  peace,  it  is  a  constant  provocation 
to  war  and  a  continual  menace  to  the  liberties 
of  a  country. 

Tyranny  must  rely  on  brute  force ;  but  Re- 
publics must  look  to  the  affections  of  the 
people  for  protection. 

81 


WEST    POINT 


Early  in  our  history,  the  Government  estab- 
lished a  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  New- 
York,  which  is  still  maintained.  One  cadet 
is  admitted  from  each  Congressional  District 
of  the  country,  and  in  addition  some  are  ap- 
pointed from  the  country  at  large  by  the  Presi- 
dent. These  cadets  are  to  serve  at  least  eight 
years — four  years  as  student  cadets  and  four 
in  active  service,  beginning  as  second  lieu- 
tenants; but  in  practice,  all  who  wish  to  do 
so  may  remain  in  the  service  of  the  Govern- 
ment for  life. 

Including  the  year  1897,  7,928  cadets  had 
entered  this  Academy,  and  4,067  had  gradu- 
ated before  July  i,  1901.  The  present  number 
of  students  is  about  five  hundred,  and  it  costs 
the  government  some  eight  thousand  dollars 
to  educate  each  student.  All  applicants  for 
admission  must  be  over  seventeen  and  under 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  They  are  thoroughly 


I^he   Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

examined  as  to  physical  and  moral  condition 
and  mental  attainments  and  capacity.  In  con- 
sequence of  this,  only  the  most  capable  and 
promising  young  men  can  be  admitted. 

The  discipline  is  understood  to  be  rigorous 
and  the  course  of  instruction  thorough.  Nearly 
all  branches  of  a  complete  English  education 
are  covered,  and  the  management  seems  to  be 
in  the  hands  of  capable  officers. 

The  curriculum,  the  regulations,  and  the 
instructions  are  designed  to  develop  endurance, 
industry,  and  scholarship.  Considering  the 
fact  that  the  young  men  are  the  pick  of  the 
land,  one  would  expect  the  Academy  to  turn 
out  hosts  of  great  men.  But  in  this  respect 
the  record  is  disappointing. 

During  the  century  of  the  existence  of  the 
West  Point  Academy,  nearly  eight  thousand 
of  the  choice  young  men  of  the  United  States 
had  entered  its  doors  as  students,  and  over 
four  thousand  had  graduated;    yet  very  few 

84 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

became  famous  in  the  history  of  our  country, 
and  nearly  all  of  the  few  who  became  great 
had  left  the  military  service  for  years  and  had 
been  following  the  pursuits  of  civil  life,  thus 
keeping  in  touch  with  their  fellow-country- 
men, and  profiting  by  the  expansion  of  mind 
and  breadth  of  view  which  comes  from  trying 
to  create  something,  and  the  strength  and 
independence  of  character  derived  from  shift- 
ing for  one's  self.  Self-reliance  is  one  of  the 
progenitors  of  greatness;  but  it  is  something 
the  professional  soldier  can  seldom  learn,  be- 
cause of  his  environment. 

General  Grant  had  left  the  army,  and  had 
been  living  the  life  of  a  civilian  for  a  number 
of  years,  when  the  Rebellion  called  him  back 
to  his  profession.  General  William  T.  Sher- 
man had  spent  eight  years  in  civil  life,  engaged 
in  various  pursuits,  just  before  the  Civil  War. 
General  Burnside  had  been  in  civil  life  about 
nine  years  before  he  re-entered  the  army  again. 

85 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

General  Joseph  Hooker  had  resigned  from  the 
army  and  had  been  in  civil  life  for  eight  years 
prior  to  the  summer  of  1861.  General  Meade 
did  not  at  any  time  sever  his  connection  with 
the  government  after  graduating  at  West 
Point,  but  for  many  years  he  was  engaged 
in  detached  service  of  such  varied  character 
that  he  had  much  experience  of  civil  life. 

The  history  of  the  Civil  War  shows  that 
nearly  all  the  officers  who  became  conspicuous 
during  the  Rebellion  were  men  who  had  a 
wide  experience  of  life  outside  of  the  army. 

There  are  reasons  for  the  fact  that  so  few 
West  Pointers  have  become  really  great  men. 

The  first  is,  that  our  military  system,  bor- 
rowed from  the  aristocratic  and  monarchical 
countries  of  Europe  the  mediaeval  and  snobbish 
system  of  maintaining  a  wide  gulf  between 
the  commissioned  officers  and  the  privates,  and 
of  making  it  impossible  for  a  common  soldier, 
no  matter  how  deserving,  to  become  a  com- 

86 


I^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

missioned  officer  without  special  appointment 
by  the  President. 

This  system,  and  the  ideas  underlying  it, 
create  in  the  mind  of  the  cadet  a  false  estimate 
of  affairs  in  this  world.  The  effect  tends  to 
make  him  vain  and  superficial.  It  is  true  that 
the  cadets  may  in  the  first  place  be  selected 
by  democratic  methods.  But  the  moment  they 
enter  the  Academy  they  begin  to  breathe  an 
atmosphere  hostile  to  the  very  principle  of 
democracy.  The  whole  tendency  of  their  en- 
vironment thereafter  is  to  make  them  a  class 
separate  and  apart  from  other  people. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  parasite 
always  claims  to  be  superior  to  those  who 
support  him.  But  in  the  economy  of  the  uni- 
verse every  truly  great  thing  rests  on  a  foun- 
dation of  justice.  This  fact  makes  it  impos- 
sible for  a  parasite  to  become  great. 

The  young  officer  leaves  the  Academy  with 
false  ideas  of  life  and  honor.    To  be  a  gentle- 

87 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

man  means,  as  he  sees  it,  to  observe  certain 
rules  of  deportment  in  so-called  polite  society; 
and  too  often  his  thoughts  are  given  up  to 
dancing,  flirting,  posing,  and  in  many  cases  to 
gambling  and  dissipation.  To  shine  in  the  draw- 
ing-room, act  the  gallant  to  frivolous  women, 
to  draw  their  salary  and  wait  for  some  superior 
to  die  in  order  to  get  promotion,  constitute  the 
life  of  many  of  the  young  officers. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  nothing  great  can 
come  from  such  a  life.  On  the  contrary,  it 
would  deaden  all  noble  impulses  and  aspira- 
tions. Twenty  years  of  such  a  life  must  leave 
a  man  shrunken  and  barren,  and  incapable  of 
the  higher  emotions.  The  discharge  of  his 
official  duties  becomes  a  dull  routine,  and  he 
is  a  parasite  maintained  in  comparative  idle- 
ness by  a  great  people,  to  whom  he  renders 
back  little  service  of  real  value.  One  bridge- 
builder,  risking  his  life  in  the  construction  of 
a  passage-way  across  some  turbulent  water, 

88 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

displays  more  courage,  and  is  worth  more  to 
his  country  than  a  whole  regiment  of  strutting 
and  posing  army  officials. 

The  disclosures  during  the  Dreyfus  case 
showed  what  an  utterly  calloused,  degenerated 
and  infamous  condition  existed  among  the 
officers  of  the  French  Army.  The  world 
looked  on  in  amazement  and  disgust.  A 
healthy  mind  must  instinctively  feel  that  men 
who  could  stoop  to  such  infamy  were  incapa- 
ble of  rendering  their  country  any  valuable 
service;  and  an  army  under  the  control  of 
such  men  must  be  a  menace  rather  than  a  pro- 
tection. 

However,  the  Dreyfus  case  was  but  the  nat- 
ural fruit  of  the  ideas  and  the  spirit  that  prevail 
in  professional  military  circles;  and  the  same 
conditions  are  found  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
in  all  military  establishments. 

Men  whose  business  in  life  is  to  pose  and 
dance  and  flirt,  while  they  wait  for  someone 

89 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

to  die  that  they  may  be  promoted,  cannot  be 
expected  to  know  anything  about  the  heart- 
beats of  a  great  and  industrious  people.  They 
get  their  notions  of  society  from  the  poisoned 
atmosphere  and  superficial  twaddle  of  the 
drawing-room.  The  French  officers  who  won 
the  execrations  of  mankind  no  doubt  began  life 
with  an  honorable  ambition,  but  they  were 
ruined  by  their  environment,  by  the  ideas  they 
imbibed,  and  they  became  the  victims  of  false 
standards. 

What  has  been  said  about  the  army  applies 
with  equal  or  greater  force  to  the  navy.  It 
seems  that  the  spirit  of  the  cad  and  the  snob 
prevails  among  the  officers  of  the  navy  to  a 
greater  extent  even  than  in  the  army.  When  the 
promotion  of  an  intelligent  and  meritorious 
man  in  the  ranks,  who  had  won  his  promotion 
by  brave  conduct,  is  openly  opposed  by  an 
admiral  of  the  United  States  Navy,  as  lately 
happened,  on  the  ground  that  the  young  man 

90 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

might  not  be  able  to  shine  at  social  functions 
on  shore,  thcjn  we  have  struck  bottom  in  the 
pit  of  the  contemptible. 

No  matter  how  great  the  capacity  or  how 
noble  the  aspirations  of  a  young  man  when 
he  enters  the  navy  as  an  officer,  if  he  is  inocu- 
lated with  this  spirit  of  snobbishness  there  is 
no  great  career  possible  for  him.  He  will 
become  a  polished  parasite,  and  will  be  a  bill 
of  expense  to  his  country. 


91 


CURRENTS    OF    DESTINY 


There  are  currents  of  destiny  which  we  may 
enter  or  not,  as  we  choose ;  but  if  we  do,  they 
will  carry  us  irresistibly  on  to  an  end  that  is  in 
harmony  with  their  nature. 

If  it  is  a  current  of  high  ideals,  it  leads  to 
a  condition  of  happiness ;  while  a  current  of 
evil  runs  to  a  haven  of  unrest  and  bitter  disap- 
pointment. Like  produces  like.  The  forces 
of  Nature  act  impartially,  and  either  build 
up  or  tear  down  all  who  come  within  the  range 
of  their  influence. 

Happiness  does  not  necessarily  demand  a 
mansion  and  a  well-filled  pocket-book;  nor 
are  a  high  social  status  and  the  plaudits  of 
admirers  essential.  But  he  who  has  deep  down 
in  his  soul  the  knowledge  that  he  has  always 
fought  for  the  right,  and  that  he  never  know- 
ingly has  wronged  another,  could  not  be  un- 
happy though  the  whole  world  were  arrayed 
against  him. 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

Brute  force  destroys  alike  the  victim  and  the 
executioner.  Slavery  cursed  alike  the  slave 
and  the  master.  Oppression  pulls  down  the 
oppressor  as  well  as  the  oppressed. 

Generally,  retribution  is  slow,  and  its  work 
is  not  seen  until  after  decades  have  passed; 
but  sometimes  it  is  swift,  and  the  hand  of  fate 
is  seen  at  noonday. 

Let  us  take  the  Boer  war  as  an  illustration 
of  swift  retribution. 

When  Gladstone  made  peace  with  the  South 
African  Republics,  the  aristocrats  who  live 
upon  the  labor  of  others,  and  monopolize  the 
official  positions  in  the  army  of  England,  vio- 
lently denounced  him.  They  demanded  the 
conquest  of  that  country  on  account  of  its 
gold-fields.  The  Tories  then  came  into  power ; 
and  although  Mr.  Chamberlain  had  at  different 
times  stated  that  the  South  African  Republics 
were  independent,  and  that  England  had  no 

right  to  interfere  with  their  internal  affairs,  he 

d4 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

now  appeared  to  join  hands  with  Cecil  Rhodes, 
the  arch-plotter  of  South  Africa,  to  wipe  out 
two  free  republics.  Jamieson  was  employed 
to  make  his  raid,  which  failed ;  and  then  there 
was  a  clamor  for  war,  and  they  got  it. 

Never  before  has  England  lost  so  many  offi- 
cers as  in  this  war,  and  the  aristocratic  families 
who  demanded  the  overthrow  of  the  two  re- 
publics are  now  lamenting  the  loss  of  their 
sons. 

On  our  side  of  the  Atlantic,  a  high  govern- 
ment official  assured  England  of  our  moral 
support  in  all  that  she  might  do,  so  that  morally 
we  became  a  party  to  her  brutality.  Our  atti- 
tude, thus  boldly  announced  to  the  world,  pre- 
vented other  nations  from  interfering  on  behalf 
of  the  Boers.  Never  in  its  history  has  our 
Republic  been  placed  in  such  a  false  light. 
Had  we  been  true  to  the  principles  of  Ameri- 
can government,  the  history  of  South  Africa 
would  be  different.    Some  of  those  responsible 

95 


'^he   Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

for  South  African  crimes  have  had  swift  retri- 
bution. What  may  our  country  have  to  pay 
for  its  share  in  the  crimes  perpetrated  in  those 
two  sister  Republics?  Or  is  it  possible  that 
the  tears  and  the  denunciations  of  the  many 
Americans  whose  sympathies  went  out  to  that 
brave  people,  fighting  for  their  rights,  will 
avert  the  punishment  ?  God  grant  that  it  may 
be  so.  The  doctrine  that  might  gives  right 
has  covered  the  earth  with  misery  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  and  has  never  benefited  any- 
body or  any  country.  While  it  crushes  the 
weak,  it  also  destroys  the  strong.  The  begin- 
ning of  conquest  marks  the  end  of  growth. 
The  fruits  of  conquest  are  laden  with  death, 
and  no  conqueror  ever  yet  escaped  their  poison. 
Both  men  and  nations  develop  so  long  as  they 
practice  virtue  and  maintain  equal  justice,  and 
both  begin  to  decay  the  moment  they  assert 
their  superior  force  and  take  advantage  of  the 
weakness  or  ignorance  of  others. 

96 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

The  slaveholder  begins  to  reap  a  harvest 
of  damnation  before  the  welt  has  healed  on  the 
back  of  his  slave.  While  the  lash  first  falls  on 
the  back  of  the  weak,  its  stroke  reacts  on  the 
strong  and  blights  a  whole  generation. 


97 


\ 


\ 


"A  GOOD    FELLOW" 


When  a  young  man  of  respectable  parentage, 
fair  education,  good  character,  and  honorable 
ambition,  comes  to  the  legislature  of  his  State 
to  represent  a  constituency,  and  begins  a  pub- 
lic career  which  he  hopes  will  make  him  fa- 
mous and  bring  glory  to  his  family,  he  is  at 
once  sought  by  the  lobbyists  and  the  older 
members  who  are  schooled  in  corruption,  and 
is  made  to  understand  that  if  he  would  succeed 
in  politics  he  must  be  "a  good  iellow."  On 
all  sides  he  is  flattered,  directly  and  indirectly, 
and  in  most  cases  he  yields  to  these  seductive 
blandishments  of  his  newly-found  friends,  and 
they  take  him  under  their  protection  and  pro- 
ceed to  have  a  good  time.  He  is  invited  to 
little  dinners,  to  play  cards,  and  to  various 
other  diversions;  wine  is  free  and  cigars  are 
plentiful.  When  he  loses  at  the  gaming-table 
he  is  given  a  loan  of  fifty  dollars,  and  another, 
and  another,  until  he  is  deeply  in  debt;    but 

99 


l^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

he  is  told  not  to  worry  about  that.  There  are 
easy  ways  of  making  money  with  which  to 
recoup  himself.  From  that  moment  the  young 
man  is  doomed.  He  is  in  the  power  of  the  cor- 
ruptionists,  and  must  vote  as  they  direct.  In  a 
short  time  he  is  a  full-fledged  boodler,  hungry 
for  money  and  ready  for  any  iniquity. 

In  other  cases,  when  it  is  found  that  a  man 
cannot  be  enticed  along  a  line  of  dissipation, 
he  is  approached  in  a  different  way.  He  is 
told  that  there  is  a  great  future  for  a  man  of 
his  ability  and  acquirements,  and  that  he  can 
wield  a  powerful  influence  and  earn  large  fees 
if  he  will  but  be  tactful  and  not  make  himself 
obnoxious  to  the  ruling  faction  of  the  legisla- 
ture. He  is  promised  the  chairmanship  of 
committees,  is  assured  of  future  political  pro- 
motion, is  offered  an  interest  in  various 
schemes,  and  all  that  is  asked  in  return  is  that 
he  be  "a  good  fellow."  Too  often  the  young 
man  yields.     He  accepts  the  flattery  as  being 

100 


^be    Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

simply  the  appreciation  due  to  a  superior  man. 
He  becomes  inflated  with  a  sense  of  his  own 
importance.  He  grabs  at  the  promised  promo- 
tion, and  is  seized  with  a  hunger  for  money; 
and  then  he  is  lost.  He  may  last  longer  than 
the  man  who  indulges  in  physical  dissipation, 
but  the  moral  dissipation  is  the  same  in  both 
cases.  Self-respect,  noble  aspirations,  honor 
and  manhood  die,  and  only  the  wreck  of  a 
blighted  life  remains. 

These  two  examples  illustrate  conditions 
that  are  only  too  common  in  American  politics. 

We  all  like  the  pleasant  and  agreeable  good 
fellow,  but  the  "good  fellow"  in  politics  is  a 
different  specimen  of  humanity. 


in 


POLITICS 


Participation  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs 
should  tend  to  make  strength  of  character. 
Properly  conducted,  it  involves  investigation, 
discussion,  and  honorable  contest;  and,  there- 
fore, it  should  develop  ability,  industry,  and 
ambition. 

Earlier  in  the  history  of  our  country,  active 
interest  in  politics  did  make  strong  and  even 
great  men.  Office-holding  should  be  a  mark 
of  distinction,  a  badge  indicative  of  public 
confidence  and  of  high  character.  And  so  it 
has  been  in  the  past.  The  people,  needing 
someone  to  look  after  their  interests,  cast  about 
for  a  man  of  ability  and  character,  and  com- 
missioned him  to  serve  them.  Being  thus  se- 
lected, he  enjoyed  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  the  public;  and  he  came  to  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  with  a  high  sense  of  honor.  Char- 
acter, with  him,  stood  above  everything  else. 
Moving  along  this  line,  he  became  strong  and 

103 


The    Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

sometimes  great.  He  was  in  fact  the  servant 
of  the  people.  But  the  sad  truth  is  that  poHtics 
have  degenerated ;  and  there  has  developed  a 
condition  that  is  prone  to  sap  the  manhood  of 
those  who  come  within  its  atmosphere.  With 
many  politicians,  the  question  is  not  how  to 
get  an  honest  expression  of  public  sentiment, 
but  how  to  avoid  it,  or  how  to  trick  the  people 
and  win  in  spite  of  them.  They  investigate, 
indeed,  and  they  stud^  industriously;  but  not 
along  the  line  that  makes  great  men.  Their 
energies  are  spent  in  efforts  at  deception, 
trickery,  and  fraud.  Such  a  line  of  conduct 
must  have  an  evil  effect  upon  those  who  prac- 
tice it;  and  when  we  look  at  the  man  who  is 
in  politics  solely  for  selfish  purposes,  we  are 
convinced  that  the  life  he  leads  has  written 
its  infamy  upon  his  countenance. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  class  of  men 
who  possess  less  honor,  less  manhood,  or  less 
character,  than  the  professional  politician  who 

104 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

has  long  manipulated  local  politics  in  large 
cities.  Instead  of  the  office  seeking  the  man, 
the  man  pursues  the  office.  Instead  of  being 
the  choice  of  his  fellow-citizens,  the  office- 
holder often  simply  fastens  himself  upon  them 
and  proceeds  to  eat  their  substance. 

He  is  never  guided  by  a  principle,  but  is  led 
by  an  appetite.  He  becomes  smooth  but  hun- 
gry, and  is  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  per- 
sonal advantage.  He  is  forever  watching  the 
weather-vanes,  and  shifting  his  position  with 
their  every  move.  He  is  all  things  to  all  men, 
an  elusive  and  deceptive  quantity,  that  grows 
smaller  and  weaker  with  every  shift. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  men  in  office  led 
public  sentiment,  and  the  contest  was  intellec- 
tual and  moral.  With  every  contest  they 
grow  stronger.  But  the  commercial  interests 
began  to  control  government  for  private  ends. 
For  this  purpose,  they  sought  to  shape  public 
sentiment,  and  they  used  commercial  methods ; 

105 


J'he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

and  the  office-holders  no  longer  led  the  public, 
nor  were  they  simply  followers,  but  they  were 
side-door  conveniences  for  commercial  inter- 
ests. They  posed  and  strutted,  it  is  true,  as 
Congressmen,  as  Senators,  as  Governors,  aye, 
as  Judges;  but  they  breathed  the  atmosphere 
of  servitude.  They  bent  to  the  winds  of  com- 
mercialism, which  was  laden  with  the  poison 
of  injustice. 

For  a  third  of  a  century  there  has  been  a 
dearth  of  great  characters  in  American  public 
life.  In  the  various  walks  of  private  life  there 
came  to  the  front  a  race  of  giants,  men  who 
grew  great  because  they  were  sincere.  Today, 
the  successful  private  individual  is  the  great 
American,  and  both  his  front  and  his  rear 
stairways  are  crowded  with  politicians  and 
office-holders  seeking  his  favors. 


106 


GOVERNMENT 


A  prominent  and  intelligent  Englishman  re- 
cently wrote  to  a  friend  in  America:  'The 
more  I  see  of  the  governance  of  human  affairs, 
the  less  the  governors  attract  me."  Many  in- 
telligent people  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
express  a  like  opinion.  Government  is  not 
only  a  necessary  institution,  but  it  should  be 
a  noble  institution.  To  protect  the  weak,  to 
restrain  the  vicious,  to  see  that  justice  is  done, 
to  perform  economic  and  industrial  functions 
for  the  benefit  of  all,  to  labor  for  the  elevation 
of  all, — these  are  the  duties  incumbent  upon 
anyone  undertaking  to  fill  the  place  of  gov- 
ernor, whether  in  a  large  or  small  field.  Could 
there  be  a  nobler  calling? 

A  good  government  official  is  indeed  a  serv- 
ant, and  he  is  good  only  in  proportion  to  his 
conception  of  the  nobility  of  serving  others. 
The  good  government  official  is  never  puffed 
up.     He  recognizes  the  humblest  citizen  as 


107 


The    Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

being  his  equal.  An  official  that  embodies 
the  above  requirements  is  one  of  God's  noblest 
creatures.  He  has  true  greatness  of  intellect 
and  soul,  and  wins  the  love  and  admiration 
of  mankind.  Such  men  become  beacon-lights 
in  the  long  upward  march  of  the  human  race, 
and  the  world  canonizes  their  memory.  Their 
contemporaries  may  be  slow  to  recognize  their 
worth,  but  at  least  they  will  have  posthumous 
fame. 

Alas!  this  ideal  official  is  the  exception. 
The  majority  of  the  governments  of  the  world 
are  born  of  force  and  maintained  by  parasitic 
and  intolerable  self-conceit — a  self-conceit  al- 
ways indicative  of  intellectual  weakness  and 
narrowness  of  soul.  Offices,  boards,  and  jobs 
of  every  kind,  are  created  at  the  instance,  not 
of  the  people  who  must  support  them,  but  of 
the  men  who  want  to  profit  by  them, — men  who 
want  to  gain  an  advantage,  who  are  striving  to 
get  something  for  nothing. 

108 


WRONG  DONE  TO  WOMEN 


The  conditions  necessary  to  reach  the  highest 
development  in  this  world,  for  either  man  or 
woman,  are  independence  and  absolute  equality 
of  rights.  This  is  the  essence  of  justice,  and 
the  highest  civilization  is  impossible  where  these 
conditions  do  not  exist.  Neither  man  nor 
woman  can  become  really  great  while  the  other 
is  kept  subordinate.  And  the  different  peoples 
of  the  earth  rank  on  the  scale  of  progress  ac- 
cording to  the  treatment  their  women  receive. 

Their  condition  is  the  lowest  among  the 
savages  and  barbarians,  where  they  are  com- 
pelled to  do  all  the  drudgery  and  to  wait  on 
their  lords  and  masters  as  slaves ;  and  it  is 
the  highest  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
where  they  possess  the  greatest  degree  of  inde- 
pendence and  equality  of  rights  ever  accorded 
women. 

Men  are  gradually  discovering  that  they 
cannot  deprive  women  of  equal  rights  without 

109 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

suffering  themselves.  They  pay  the  penalty 
of  occupying  a  lower  grade  of  civilization.  The 
man  who  treats  a  woman  as  an  inferior,  and 
refuses  to  accord  her  justice,  cannot  attain 
the  highest  estate  in  this  life.  He  stands  on 
too  low  a  plane. 

There  is  no  man  living  who  holds  a  commis- 
sion which  authorizes  him  to  sit  in  judgment 
on  the  rights  of  women. 

Woman  has  precisely  the  same  title  and 
right  to  independence  and  equality  before  the 
law  that  man  has.  Both  hold  title  from  the 
same  source.  She  has  just  as  much*  right  to 
sit  in  judgment  on  man,  and  limit  his  sphere 
and  his  actions,  as  he  has  to  limit  hers.  There- 
fore any  attempt  by  man  to  deny  woman  inde- 
pendence or  equality  of  rights  is  simply  the 
assertion  of  brute  force. 

Brute  force  degrades  those  who  successfully 
use  it.  Every  time  it  is  resorted  to,  there  is 
a  reaction  toward  the  brute  creation. 

uo 


The   Cost    of  Something  for    Nothing 

The  story  of  the  wrongs  done  to  woman  is 
as  old  as  time,  and  the  blight  and  curse  of  it 
has  followed  man  through  the  centuries. 

There  is  no  more  pitiable  object  than  the 
weak,  confiding  creature,  betrayed  and  aban- 
doned, and  a  social  outcast.  No  condition  in 
life  can  be  more  hopeless.  The  path  of  degra- 
dation, vice,  and  misery,  seems  all  that  is  left 
for  her. 

When  we  hear  of  a  man  thus  abandoning  a 
woman,  we  instinctively  feel  that  there  must 
be  a  hell, — else  how  shall  such  miscreants  meet 
their  just  reward?  But  if  we  look  deeper  we 
find  that  Nature  has  fully  covered  the  case, 
and  she  never  yet  has  let  a  guilty  one  escape, 
unless  he  has  made  ample  restitution.  The 
man  who  ruthlessly  abandons  a  woman  who 
has  believed  and  confided  in  him,  destroys  him- 
self; and  though  he  flies  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  the  curse  will  follow  him.  He  may 
have  genius,  and  may  seem  to  prosper;    but 

111 


~( 


^be    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

sooner  or  later  the  dark  shadow  of  wrong  will 
turn  his  face  from  the  sun,  and  lead  him  into 
the  currents  of  destiny  that  will  carry  him  to 
his  just  punishment. 


112 


PRAYER 


Prayer  is  the  earnest  upward  reaching  of 
the  soul,  the  surrender  of  all  other  thoughts 
and  desires,  and  the  concentration  of  all  long- 
ing into  one  petition.  Only  the  sincere  and 
contrite  heart  can  pray.  A  man  must  be 
honest  with  himself,  and  in  attune  with  his 
Maker  and  the  universe,  in  order  to  pray. 

"O  God,  be  merciful  unto  me  a  sinner,"  has 
come  down  to  us  through  thousands  of  years 
as  one  of  the  greatest  prayers  ever  uttered, 
because  it  came  from  an  earnest  soul.  The 
follower  of  Christ  was  told  to  go  to  his  closet 
and  pray  in  secret.  He  was  told  that  his 
prayer  was  a  mockery  if  it  was  not  sincere; 
but  if  it  was  the  honest  expression  of  a  peni- 
tent heart,  his  Father  who  heard  in  secret 
would  reward  him  openly. 

Taking  the  Scriptural  requirements  for  the 
efficacy  of  prayer,  and  assuming  that  there 
is  a  prayer-hearing  and  prayer-answering  God, 


113 


^he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

it  is  manifest  that  the  mere  mumbling  of  words, 
the  ostentatious  appeal  to  Heaven  while  the 
mind  is  occupied  with  the  things  of  this  world, 
the  bowing  and  kneeling  and  sanctimonious 
expression,  are  the  acts  of  a  Pharisee,  and 
blasphemous  in  character. 

Every  repetition  of  such  an  exercise  would 
debase  the  petitioner,  and  tend  to  make  him 
a  hypocrite,  and  in  time  would  destroy  every- 
thing noble  in  his  nature. 

On  the  other  hand,  assuming  that  there  is 
no  personal  God  to  hear  or  answer  prayer,  and 
that  all  creation  is  governed  by  immutable 
laws  that  cannot  be  changed  or  arrested  by 
any  number  of  prayers,  it  is  still  true  that  the 
genuine,  earnest  prayer,  the  concentration  of 
thought  upon  that  which  is  God-like,  and  the 
bending  of  all  desires  into  one  fervent  petition 
and  bringing  one's  nature  into  harmony  with 
that  petition,  has  an  uplifting  and  inspiring 
effect  upon  him  who  prays. 

114 


^he    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

Nature  is  honest  with  those  who  are  honest 
with  her.  As  physical  exercise  strengthens  and 
upbuilds  the  body,  so  this  psychic  exercise  ele- 
vates and  ennobles  the  soul. 


115 


GRATIFICATION 


Gratification  moulds  the  character  and 
gradually  prints  its  nature  in  living  letters  on 
the  countenance.  The  thoughts  of  a  man  write 
his  history.  Unconsciously  we  partake  of  the 
nature  of  the  thoughts  that  are  feeding  us. 
If  our  thoughts  are  noble,  we  are  exalted;  if 
sordid  or  sensual,  we  degenerate.  Continuous 
gratification  gradually  transforms  a  man  into 
a  different  being,  with  a  nature  resembling  the 
thing  that  gives  him  pleasure. 

When  greed  for  money  is  fed,  the  desire  in- 
creases; and  with  every  gratification  the  man 
undergoes  a  change.  His  soul  shrivels;  his 
nature  hardens.  The  trend  of  his  thoughts  is 
downward  and  not  upward,  his  nobler  and 
higher  impulses  die,  and  he  moves  toward  the 
material  and  sensual. 

If  the  indulgence  consists  of  feeding  the  ap- 
petite to  excess  with  viands,  or  liquors,  or  both, 
the  individual  becomes  coarse  and  blear-eyed. 

117 


"The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

If  this  free  indulgence  is  sensual,  he  becomes 
vulgar  in  mind  and  thought,  and  his  eyes  and 
his  countenance  tell  the  story  to  the  whole 
world. 

The  hunger  for  fashion  and  dilettanteism, 
when  gratified  to  excess,  makes  a  life  that  is 
as  superficial  and  as  empty  as  the  twaddle  of 
the  average  drawing-room.  It  means  a  life 
wasted  and  an  opportunity  thrown  away. 

But  if  the  gratification  is  of  an  intellectual 
or  spiritual  order,  if  it  comes  from  studying 
Nature  and  listening  to  the  birds  sing,  from 
contemplating  the  stars  and  gazing  at  the  sun, 
from  seeking  the  welfare  of  man  and  helping 
the  weak,  from  doing  duty  and  being  just,  and 
striving  for  all  that  is  noble  and  uplifting, 
then  will  the  countenance  radiate  with  the  glow 
of  immortality. 


118 


MINISTERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL 


The  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  practiced  as  it 
was  taught  and  practiced  by  Christ,  brings 
serenity  and  happiness  of  soul  to  him  who 
sincerely  gives  himself  up  to  the  service.  To 
comfort  the  sick,  to  help  the  poor,  to  guide  the 
unfortunate,  to  point  the  way  to  purity  and 
righteousness,  will  bring  to  him  who  ministers 
a  "peace  that  passeth  all  understanding,"  and 
it  never  fails.  We  all  know  how  the  doing 
of  a  good  deed  will  bring  a  glow  to  the  heart, 
and  this  is  the  strongest  proof  we  have  of  the 
power  of  "goodness."  We  all  know, — and 
there  is  no  question  in  our  minds  about  it, — 
that  to  him  who  gives  himself  up  to  a  life  of 
true  righteousness  there  will  come  this  reward 
of  peace. 

It  is  fortunate  for  the  world  that  there  are 
true  exponents  of  Christ's  teachings,  and  they 
are  to  be  found  among  all  creeds  and  sects. 
They  are  found  along  the  walks  of  the  lowly, 

U9 


The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

but  they  are  not  abashed  by  the  pretensions 
of  power.  Their  hearts  go  out  to  the  wretched 
and  forsaken,  but  their  souls  dwell  on  the 
heights,  and  their  faces  are  turned  toward  the 
morning.  Their  presence  is  a  benediction  and 
their  lives  light  the  way  to  the  eternities. 

There  is  a  second  class  of  men  called  min- 
isters who  are  not  very  bad  nor  yet  very  good. 
They  want  to  do  their  duty,  but  they  want 
to  be  paid  for  it,  and  they  have  an  eye  to  the 
main  chance.  They  like  comfortable  living, 
and  therefore  they  want  paying  congregations. 
They  are  rarely  great,  but  the  average  is  fair. 
They  have  a  taste  for  the  material  things,  yet 
they  are  serious  and  mean  to  be  in  earnest. 

They  tell  the  truth  as  they  see  it,  and  they 
do  some  good  in  the  world  by  preaching  severe 
morals,  which  helps  mankind  upward.  But 
their  thoughts  mould  their  characters;  and 
to  the  extent  that  they  are  narrow  and  greedy, 
and  fall  short  of  the  true  spirit,  do  their  lives 

120 


The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

end  on  the  barren  plains  of  disappointment  and 
bitterness. 

There  is  a  third  class  of  ministers,  who  glory 
in  the  title  of  Reverend  Doctor.  Usually  they 
are  men  of  average  ability  and  expensive  edu- 
cation. They  rarely  do  anything  great  or 
original.  They  are  eminently  respectable  and 
thoroughly  conventional.  Respectability  is 
their  stock  in  trade,  and  conventionality  is  their 
protection.  They  cater  to  the  rich,  and  they 
love  luxury.  They  seek  large  salaries  and 
fashionable  and  rich  congregations.  They  de- 
light to  pose,  and  are  great  in  the  drawing- 
room  and  popular  with  the  ladies. 

They  walk  down  the  avenues  where  reside 
the  wealthy,  and  thank  God  for  having  guided 
their  feet  into  pleasant  paths.  The  hovels  of 
the  poor  shock  their  refined  tastes,  and  the 
cries  of  distress  grate  too  harshly  on  their 
delicate  nerves;  so  they  avoid  both,  and  the 
cry  of  the  oppressed  does  not    reach     them. 

121 


'The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

They  turn  their  backs  toward  misery  and  shut 
their  eyes  to  injustice.  On  pubHc  questions 
they  are  to  be  found  on  the  side  of  the  rich 
and  powerful. 

Their  sermons  are  sometimes  learned,  and 
their  prayers  always  unctuous  and  well- 
rounded;  but  the  former  lack  sympathy,  and 
the  latter  lack  soul. 

Their  service  suggests  a  beautiful  mockery. 
They  do  not  conduct  religious  worship, — they 
give  a  fashionable  and  artistic  entertainment. 
Their  congregations  are  more  like  fashionable 
clubs  than  members  of  Christian  churches. 

The  men  who  preside  over  and  guide  these 
clubs  may  be  useful  to  the  world, — not  as  min- 
isters of  the  lowly  Saviour,  but  as  social  guides. 
They  are  useful  in  perhaps  even  a  higher  sense 
than  is  the  dancing  master  and  the  instructor 
in  deportment;  but,  unfortunately,  the  ele- 
ments of  cant  and  hypocrisy  enter  into  the  case 
of  the   Reverend   Doctor,   and   in  time  they 

122 


The   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

change  his  nature,  candor  dies,  and  conven- 
tional conduct  takes  its  place.  Such  a  man  is 
constantly  deteriorating.  He  drifts  away  from 
the  fountains  of  pure  life,  and  parts  company 
with  Nature.  His  soul  becomes  bankrupt,  and 
he  carries  with  him  the  visage  of  the  Pharisee 
and  the  smile  of  the  parasite. 


PARASITES 


To  live  habitually  at  the  expense  of  another, 
makes  a  parasite,  whether  in  the  vegetable,  the 
animal,  or  the  human  world. 

Scientists  tell  us  that  there  are  parasites 
which  have  in  the  beginning  a  number  of  or- 
gans that  if  used  would  develop,  but  which 
gradually  become  dormant  and  often  disappear 
entirely  for  want  of  use,  so  that  in  the  end 
this  parasite  becomes  simply  a  sack  with  a 
food-sucking  mouth. 

Among  human  kind  there  are  two  classes  of  * 
parasites.  There  is  the  "hanging  on"  class, 
from  the  beggar  to  the  well-dressed  flunky 
and  cad,  who  act  the  part  of  servility  to  secure 
favors ;  and,  second,  the  insidious  parasite 
whom  conditions  or  institutions  have  placed 
in  a  position  where  he  can  suck  the  substance 
of  other  people's  toil. 

The  effect  of  parasitism  is  to  weaken  and 
destroy  all  that  is  of  worth  in  the  parasite, 

125 


"The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

This  comes,  not  as  a  punishment  inflicted  by  an 
extraneous  power,  but  as  a  natural  consequence 
of  inaction.  The  principle  of  life  in  this  uni- 
verse depends  entirely  on  action, — constant, 
ceaseless  action.  Inaction  stops  growth  and 
development,  and  decay  sets  in. 

The  man  who  eats  bread  that  is  earned  by 
others  is  a  parasite;  in  the  social  economy  he 
is  but  a  sack  with  a  sucking  mouth.    Not  being 

compelled  to  exert  his  other  organs  or  faculties, 
they  cease  to  grow.     Astonishing  as  it  may 

seem,  there  is  an  almost  universal  desire  among 

men  to  become  a  parasite ;   that  is,  a  desire  to 

get  into  a  position  where  they  can  gratify  their 

appetites  and  tastes  without  labor,  a  desire  to 

take  things   rather  than  to  make  things, — a 

desire  to  get  something  for  nothing. 


126 


EXPLOITATION 


He  who  commits  murder  is  a  fool;  for 
though  he  may  escape  the  law,  Nature  at  once 
lays  her  hands  upon  him,  and  his  punishment 
begins.  And  the  man  who  exploits  the  public, 
or  deceives  and  robs  the  unsuspecting,  is  a 
fool ;  for  though  he  may  never  be  found  out 
and  punished  by  his  victims,  he  will  know  no 
peace, — the  restlessness  of  the  criminal  will  at 
once  begin  to  torture  him.  It  does  not  matter 
how  the  exploitation  is  practiced — whether  by 
extortion,  by  selling  worthless  securities,  by 
robbing  in  the  name  of  a  corporation,  by  de- 
bauching public  officials,  by  betraying  a  trust, 
by  prostituting  an  office,  or  by  any  other 
method  whereby  more  is  taken  than  is  given. 
Robbing  on  the  highway  requires  the  redeem- 
ing element  of  courage.  Exploitation  has  not 
a  single  redeeming  feature. 

Man  may  not  ask  how  we  came    by     our 
money,  but  Nature  keeps  an  exact  record  of  it. 

127 


T^he    Cost    of  Something  for   Nothing 

Man  may  fawn  on  us  if  we  have  money;  but 
if  we  violate  her  moral  laws,  Nature  will  strike 
us  down  and  leave  us  a  wreck  by  the  wayside. 


128 


THE  POTENCY  OF  IDEAS 


Ideas  mould  the  destiny  of  nations  and 
write  their  characters  on  the  countenance  of 
man* 

He  who  gives  the  world  ideas,  helps  to  make 
its  history;  and  the  thoughts  that  occupy  the 
mind  of  the  individual  shape  its  career. 
Wealth,  power  and  office  are  all  the  product 
of  ideas. 

The  emancipation  of  the  colored  race  and 
the  consequent  elevation  of  manhood  was  the 
harvest  grown  from  preaching  liberty  during 
the  last  century. 

The  fierce  commercialism  that  is  now  ripen- 
ing, and  seeking  to  re-enthrone  brute  force, 
is  the  product  of  the  ideas  that  were  sown 
some  fifty  years  ago,  when  little  else  was  talked 
of  but  the  developing  of  the  country  and  the 
making  of  money. 

This  commercialism  is  pulling  down  great 
mottoes  and  sneering  at  all  high  standards. 

129 


T'he   Cost  of  Something  for  Nothing 

Having  no  lofty  sentiment,  it  is  the  enemy  of 
liberty.  It  is  turning  our  faces  from  the  sun 
and  erecting  altars  to  Mammon. 

The  men  who  are  following  this  false  light 
will  become  hard  and  cold  and  sordid  in  their 
mad  struggle  for  wealth.  No  matter  how 
great  the  measure  of  their  success,  they  will 
have  nothing  worth  having  if  they  get  all. 

But  while  commercialism  is  running  riot  at 
the  top,  a  new  order  of  thought  is  growing  up 
at  the  bottom.  Both  Europe  and  America  are 
producing  a  higher  order  of  ideas  that  breathe 
the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood  and  promise 
a  nobler  civilization  for  man. 

A  new  literature,  that  is  the  harbinger  of  a 
better  time,  is  fast  enveloping  the  earth;  and 
the  men  who  imbibe  this  spirit,  and  labor  to 
elevate  the  race,  will  be  the  great  men  of  the 
future. 


130 


CONCLUSION 


The  writer  has  tried  to  point  out  the  fact 
that  the  getting  of  something  for  nothing  has 
in  it  the  germs  of  dissolution ;  that  to  receive 
more  from  our  fellow-men  than  we  give  in 
return  will  brand  us  as  criminals,  and  put  a 
blight  upon  our  children ;  that  the  excuse  that 
our  fellow-man  consented  to  the  bargain  will 
not  answer,  for  it  is  not  only  a  question  of 
wronging  him,  but  it  is  also  a  question  of  vio- 
lating the  eternal  law  of  equivalents,  the  uni- 
versal law  of  balances. 

We  have  tried  to  show  that  fortune,  posses- 
sions, office  and  honors,  cannot  arrest  internal 
decay;  that  pomp  and  display  are  Dead  Sea 
apples,  exciting  the  ignorant  but  disgusting  the 
wise ;  that  the  same  laws  apply  to  the  rich  and 
the  poor  alike, — governing  the  drudge  of  the 
household  and  the  lady  of  the  drawing-room, 
the  slave  in  the  field  as  well  as  the  master  on 
the  hill,  the  tramp  on  the  highway  and  the 

131 


The    Cost   of  Something  for   Nothing 

king  on  his  throne;  that  every  deception, 
every  cruelty,  every  grasp  of  greed,  every 
wrong,  reaches  back  sooner  or  later  and  curses 
its  author ;  that  justice  is  moral  health,  bring- 
ing happiness,  and  wrong  is  moral  disease, 
bringing  moral  death;  that  when  the  final 
judgment  comes  to  be  entered,  when  the  sum 
and  the  total  are  told,  it  will  be  written  that  he 
who  takes  more  than  he  gives  courts  death 
and  invites  destruction. 

[the  end.] 


132 


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